
"The therapeutic strategy does not promise a cure for autism, bur rather the hope is to increase an individual's functionality," Restifo said.
In a recently completed experiment, Restifo and her research team found several dozen drugs that straighten out curly brain neurons.
The curliness resulted from lack of protein that is thought to be important to brain development. The resounding success of the proof-of-concept study suggests a novel strategy for finding safe and effective drug treatments for mental retardation and autism.