In contrast, adult restoration of the abundant excitatory postsynaptic protein, Shank3, in mice7–9 was reported to restore Shank3 dysfunction-related social deficits and repetitive behavior but not hypoactivity or anxiety-like behavior, the latter of which was found to require earlier gene re-expression at embryonic or early postnatal stages10,11. Here, SHANK3 is linked to Anxiety.