New York. An innovative research approach developed at the Italian Institute of Technology in Rovereto and the University of Pisa will help us understand how genetic alterations compromise the regular function of the brain, opening new frontiers in understanding the causes of disorders in the spectrum of autism.
The study, published in the journal “Brain”, was conducted by the team of researchers led by Alessandro Gozzi from the Italian Institute of Technology in Rovereto and by Professor Massimo Pasqualetti from the Department of Biology of the University of Pisa in collaboration with five other research groups from across Italy. The research, entirely Italian, was funded by the US foundation Simons Foundation for the Autism Research Initiative, an institution that selects and rewards the most innovative research in the field of autism worldwide. “Although we know that autism is highly hereditary, the role that genes play in determining this syndrome is not yet clear” explains Alessandro Gozzi, coordinator of the research and the team at the IIT. This study represents an important demonstration of how specific DNA alterations can compromise brain connections and the normal functioning of the brain, causing one of the most widespread forms of autism”. (9Colonne)
