From hypersensitivity to clothing to an extreme focus on visual details, about 90% of autistic individuals report atypical sensory experience. Behind it, according to the most influential hypothesis, stands an imbalance of neuronal activity. Testing this assumption in the visual system is the aim of the new project awarded by SFARI, the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, to SISSA neuroscientist Davide Zoccolan. Over the next two years, he will investigate the visual abilities and the underlying cortical processes in one of the most promising genetic rat models for autism spectrum disorders.