- Inflammation during pregnancy in mice caused lasting autism-like brain and behavior changes in offspring, including brain overactivity, seizure risk, sensory sensitivity, repetitive behaviors, and abnormal brain network organization.
- A single dose of rapamycin rapidly improved these changes within two hours, but the effects were temporary and repeated dosing lost efficacy, making rapamycin itself unsuitable as a broad treatment.
- The findings suggest that adult brains may remain adaptable, and that targeting functional circuitry (e.g., the mTOR pathway) rather than structural differences could lead to new therapeutic approaches for autism symptoms.