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Health & wellness

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Could autism be reversed with a pill?

By Karen Weintraub

 |  Globe Correspondent  

  April 11, 2012

A study in the journal Neuron found that medication could correct the health and behavior problems of mice with a genetic condition known to lead to autism in people. The drug, which acts on the synapses, or gaps, between brain cells, reversed a vast range of symptoms often associated with autism -- including lack of sociability, physical awkwardness, and hyperactivity. Most surprising, the drug worked on adolescent mice, showing that these symptoms are reversible even after the critical period of early brain development.

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