Autism spectrum Disorders are usually considered as disorders of the brain, characterized by repetitive behaviors and deficits in communication skills and social interaction. In addition, a majority of autistic people also have an altered tactile sense: they are often hypersensitive to light touch and can be overwhelmed by certain textures.

In the last years, the sensory abnormalities have acquired certain relevance and seem to be central features of autism. A team of scientists from the Harvard Medical School in Boston focused their attention on the first step of tactile sensation –the peripheral Nervous System- and silenced the Mecp2 gene in Mice, which encodes a protein that regulates the expression of genes that help forge connections between nerves. The Mecp2 mutant mice were more sensitive to light touch and were unable to distinguish between rough and smooth textures. The animals also displayed other autism-like behaviors beyond touch. Even though the defective Mecp2 gene wasn’t present in brain cells, the mutant mice were also more anxious and less social, traits generally attributed to the central nervous system.

Even if the results apply only to mice, which are an imperfect model for complex cognitive disorders such as autism, further studies will translate these observations to human and will help us to better understand the autism Spectrum Disorders.