Assessing contemporary Arctic habitat availability for a woolly mammoth proxy.

Interest continues to grow in Arctic megafaunal ecological engineering, but, since the mass extinction of megafauna ~ 12-15 ka, key physiographic variables and available forage continue to change. Here we sought to assess the extent to which contemporary Arctic ecosystems are conducive to the rewilding of megaherbivores, using a woolly mammoth (M. primigenius) proxy as a model species.

Novel PRMT7 mutation in a rare case of dysmorphism and intellectual disability.

Protein arginine N-methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) encodes an arginine methyltransferase central to a number of fundamental biological processes, mutations in which result in an autosomal recessive developmental disorder characterized by short stature, brachydactyly, intellectual developmental disability and seizures (SBIDDS). To date, fewer than 15 patients with biallelic mutations in PRMT7 have been documented. Here we report brothers from a consanguineous Iraqi family presenting with a developmental disorder characterized by global developmental delay, shortened stature, facial dysmorphisms, brachydactyly, and kidney dysfunction.

Activity-dependent dendritic elaboration requires Pten.

Pten, a gene associated with autism spectrum disorder, is an upstream regulator of receptor tyrosine kinase intracellular signaling pathways that mediate extracellular cues to inform cellular development and activity-dependent plasticity. We therefore hypothesized that Pten loss would interfere with activity dependent dendritic growth. We investigated the effects of this interaction on the maturation of retrovirally labeled postnatally generated wild-type and Pten knockout granule neurons in male and female mouse dentate gyrus while using chemogenetics to manipulate the activity of the perforant path afferents.

Corrigendum: Alexithymia and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Complex Relationship.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.

Alexithymia and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Complex Relationship.

Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the nature of its role in ASD symptomatology remains elusive. Here, we distill research at the intersection of alexithymia and ASD.

Oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms (rs53576) and early paternal care sensitize males to distressing female vocalizations.

The oxytocinergic system is highly involved in social bonding and early caregiver-infant interactions. Here, we hypothesize that oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene genotype and parental bonding history interact in influencing social development. To address this question, we assessed adult males' arousal (heart rate changes) in response to different distress vocalizations (human female, human infant and bonobo).

A Neurodevelopmental Perspective for Autism-Associated Gene Function.

Large-scale genetic sequencing studies have identified a wealth of genes in which mutations are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding the biological function of these genes sheds light onto the neurodevelopmental basis of ASD. To this end, we defined functional categories representing brain development - (1) Cell Division and Survival, (2) Cell Migration and Differentiation, (3) Neuronal Morphological Elaboration, (4) Development and Regulation of Cellular Excitability, and (5) Synapse Formation and Function - and place 100 high confidence ASD-associated genes yielding at least 50 published PubMed articles into these categories based on keyword searches.

Rapid Hebbian axonal remodeling mediated by visual stimulation.

We examined how correlated firing controls axon remodeling, using in vivo time-lapse imaging and electrophysiological analysis of individual retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons that were visually stimulated either synchronously or asynchronously relative to neighboring inputs in the Xenopus laevis optic tectum. RGCs stimulated out of synchrony rapidly lost the ability to drive tectal postsynaptic partners while their axons grew and added many new branches. In contrast, synchronously activated RGCs produced fewer new branches, but these were more stable.