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subsequently began producing the enzyme

proved so much they no longer met the criteria for legal blindness

injected the functional genes into the previously untreated eye

improved as soon as two weeks after the operation: They could navigate an obstacle course, even in dim light, avoiding objects that had tripped them up before, as well as recognize people's faces and read large signs

brains were much more responsive to optical input as well.

second round of gene therapy further strengthened the brain's response to the initially treated eye as well as the newly treated one

that neuroplasticity plays a role

visual cortex responding to the newly flowing channel of information from the second eye bolster activity in areas of the visual cortex responding to the initially treated eye.

the offspring of parents who experience famine are at heightened risk for developing schizophrenia, some research suggests — perhaps because of the chemical signatures on the genes that parents pass on.

in some people with autism, epigenetic markers had silenced the gene which makes the receptor for the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin oils the brain’s social circuits, and is critical in cementing relationships; a brain short on receptors for it would most likely struggle in social situations.

In one large study of people with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins are analyzing blood and other data to see whether the degree of epigenetic variation is related to the inherited risk of developing the disorder. In another, researchers at Tufts are studying the genes of animals dependent on opiates to see how epigenetic alterations caused by drug exposure affect the opiate sensitivity of the animals’ offspring.