Using a state-of-the-art method, researchers at DZNE and the University of Texas have succeeded for the first time at unraveling the effects of autoimmune antibodies that are directed against the brain in detail at the atomic level. To this end, they studied two antibodies that dock to so-called GABAA receptors in one variant of autoimmune encephalitis. Their findings on the structural mechanisms, which they have now published in the journal Cell are an important step towards the development of effective therapies—and they also pave the way for further promising investigations using the new method.