{"sup":"-/y","#text":"Endogenous noise of neocortical neurons correlates with atypical sensory response variability in the Fmr1mouse model of autism."}

Scientists studied brain cells in mice with a condition similar to autism to understand why autistic people often have unusual responses to sounds, lights, and touch. They found that brain cells in these mice were much more variable and unpredictable when responding to sensory information. This 'brain noise' may explain why autistic individuals can have such different reactions to the same sensory experiences from day to day.

This preclinical study used a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome to investigate the neurobiological basis of sensory processing differences in autism. Researchers recorded brain activity from individual neurons in the neocortex during sensory stimulation. They found that sensory information processing was more variable and temporally imprecise compared to typical patterns. The increased variability in neural responses was strongly linked to endogenous noise sources within the brain.

This neural variability may contribute to the sensory responsiveness differences commonly observed in autistic individuals. The study provides a framework for understanding how internal brain noise contributes to autism symptoms and offers potential targets for therapeutic interventions.

This research advances understanding of the neurobiological basis of sensory processing differences in autism. It suggests that targeting endogenous neural noise could be a potential therapeutic approach. However, translation from mouse models to human interventions requires further research and clinical validation.

Study conducted only in male mice, limiting generalizability. Sample size not reported. Findings are from an animal model and may not directly translate to human autism. The connection between neural variability and behavioral outcomes remains theoretical.

Excessive neural variability of sensory responses is a hallmark of atypical sensory processing in autistic individuals with cascading effects on other core autism symptoms but unknown neurobiological substrate. Here, by recording neocortical single neuron activity in a well-established mouse model of Fragile X syndrome and autism, we characterized atypical sensory processing and probed the role of endogenous noise sources in exaggerated response variability in males. The analysis of sensory stimulus evoked activity and spontaneous dynamics, as well as neuronal features, reveals a complex cellular and network phenotype. Neocortical sensory information processing is more variable and temporally imprecise.

Increased trial-by-trial and inter-neuronal response variability is strongly related to key endogenous noise features, and may give rise to behavioural sensory responsiveness variability in autism. We provide a novel preclinical framework for understanding the sources of endogenous noise and its contribution to core autism symptoms, and for testing the functional consequences for mechanism-based manipulation of noise.