The findings implicate specific molecules, called endocannabinoids, in the development of some autism cases and point to potential treatment strategies.<\/p>\n “Endocannabinoids are molecules that are critical regulators of normal neuronal activity and are important for many brain functions<\/strong>,” says first author Dr. Csaba F\u00f6ldy, of Stanford University Medical School. “By conducting studies in mice, we found that neuroligin-3, a protein that is mutated in some individuals with autism, is important for relaying endocannabinoid signals that tone down communication between neurons.”<\/p>\n When the researchers introduced different autism-associated mutations in neuroligin-3 into mice, this signaling was blocked and the overall excitability of the brain was changed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “These findings point out an unexpected link between a protein implicated in autism and a signaling system that previously had not been considered to be particularly important for autism<\/strong>,” says senior author Dr. Thomas S\u00fcdhof, also of Stanford. “Thus, the findings open up a new area of research and may suggest novel strategies for understanding the underlying causes of complex brain disorders.”<\/p>\n The results also indicate that targeting components of the endocannabinoid signaling system may help reverse autism symptoms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The study’s findings resulted from a research collaboration between the Stanford laboratories of Dr. S\u00fcdhof and Dr. Robert Malenka, who is also an author on the paper.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the Cell Press press release via EurekAlert!: Mutations found in individuals with autism block the action of molecules made by the brain that act on the same receptors that… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[331,6],"tags":[71,72,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12168"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12396,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168\/revisions\/12396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Autism\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/Autism.jpg\")
Mutations found in individuals with autism block the action of molecules made by the brain that act on the same receptors that marijuana’s active chemical acts on<\/strong>, according to new research reported online April 11 in the Cell Press journal Neuron<\/i>.<\/p>\n