We are supporting Professor Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University in the USA to discover the mechanisms of autism brain dynamics with a view to proposing treatment for neurological disorders, with two projects: The Stanford Optogenetics Moonshot for Autism (SOMA) and the Stanford Human Interaction Neural Exploration (SHINE) program.
Promoting a better understanding of Autism
Understanding of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) lags far behind other fields of medicine or psychiatry. There are many reasons for this, including that the specificity of modern basic neuroscience methods have not been used to investigate the underlying regulation of the ASD brain state, and there is also a lack of quantitative patient-specific measurements of ASD function relevant to symptoms.
We have provided two awards to elucidate the mechanisms of autism brain dynamics by resolving relationships among brain-wide projections and cell populations involved in social behaviour, and using a novel human clinical setting to test these findings.
Our research goals
During the SOMA project, the team developed and applied a novel approach which combined cellular and molecular resolution information with neural circuitry of socially behaving mammals. This was done with a brain-wide perspective in order to elucidate the elemental principles and mechanisms of social drive and dysfunction. This project was successful in building a mechanistic understanding of relevant neural circuit dynamics, and for identifying cellular targets in clinical applications.
The SHINE project is an ambitious programme building on the success of the previously funded SOMA project, to deliver transformative advances in the understanding and treatment of ASD through a novel human-centred neuroscience research initiative. Building on foundational discoveries in neural circuit dynamics of the SOMA project, the study will provide new treatment ideas based on new molecular targets by identifying and resolving altered relationships among cell populations governing human cognition and behaviour.
The ultimate goal is to pave the way for novel, effective and precision therapies that support autonomy, reduce overmedication, and enhance daily life for individuals with ASD, where desired.