A single dose reversed autism-like symptoms in adult mice within hours A drug briefly reversed autism-like brain and behavior changes in adult mice, hinting that affected brain circuits may remain surprisingly adaptable. - Date: - July 25, 2026 - Source: - University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences - Summary: - Even mild inflammation during pregnancy led mouse offspring to develop persistent brain overactivity, sensory sensitivity, repetitive behaviors, and increased seizure risk. Remarkably, one dose of rapamycin improved nearly all of these problems within about two hours.

The benefits were temporary, but they suggest that adult brain circuits may remain far more adaptable than previously believed. - Share: A UCLA Health study in mice has found that inflammation during pregnancy can produce lasting autism-like changes in offspring. The researchers also discovered that many of the resulting brain and behavioral effects could be improved rapidly in adulthood, although only temporarily, with a single dose of the immune-suppressing drug rapamycin.

Previous research has shown that even mild inflammation in the middle of pregnancy can affect developing offspring. Reported consequences include autism-like behaviors, unusual brain growth, seizures, and greater sensitivity to ordinary sounds, touch, and other sensory experiences. These effects can continue into adulthood.

In the new study, published in Nature Communications, UCLA scientists found that one dose of rapamycin improved brain communication and behavior in the affected mice in about two hours. That response was far too fast for the drug to have repaired the underlying physical changes in the brain caused by maternal inflammation. A Rapid but Temporary Brain Response The researchers stressed that rapamycin should not be considered a practical treatment for these symptoms in people.

Its benefits were temporary, repeated use can be toxic, and the study was conducted in mice. Instead, the rapid response helped reveal biological processes that could guide the development of safer and more targeted therapies. "The level of functional normalization achieved over this short time suggests new mechanisms by which possible treatments may act," said the study's senior author Dr.

Harley Kornblum, director of the UCLA Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. "It suggests the adult brain may be more adaptable than we assumed, even when the underlying structural changes from early development are still there. This points us toward the brain's functional circuitry, not just its physical structure, as a target for future treatment approaches." Earlier studies have found that children born to mothers who experience inflammation during pregnancy may have a greater likelihood of developing traits associated with autism.

These can include repetitive behavior, challenges with social interaction, enlarged brain growth, and altered sensory processing that persists later in life. Rapamycin has also produced improvements in earlier mouse studies of autism. The drug works in part by reducing activity in the mTOR pathway, a biological signaling system that regulates cell growth and proliferation.