Restoration of excitation/inhibition balance enhances neuronal signal-to-noise ratio and rescues social deficits in autism-associated deficiency.

Social behavior is critical for survival and adaptation, which is profoundly disrupted in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Social withdrawal due to information overload was often described in ASD, and it was suspected that increased basal noise, i.e., excessive background neuronal activities in the brain could be a disease mechanism. However, experimental test of this hypothesis is limited. Loss-of-function mutations (deficiency) in , which encodes the voltage-gated sodium channel Na1.2, have been revealed as a leading monogenic cause of profound ASD. Here, we revealed that deficiency results in robust and multifaceted social impairments in mice. -deficient neurons displayed an increased excitation-inhibition (E/I) ratio, contributing to elevated basal neuronal noise and diminished signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during social interactions. Notably, the restoration of expression in adulthood is able to rescue both SNR and social deficits. By balancing the E/I ratio and reducing basal neuronal firing, an FDA-approved GABA receptor-positive allosteric modulator improves sociability in -deficient mice and normalizes neuronal activities in translationally relevant human brain organoids carrying autism-associated nonsense mutation. Collectively, our findings revealed a critical role of the Na1.2 channel in the regulation of social behaviors, and identified molecular, cellular, and circuitry mechanisms underlying -associated disorders.