Spectrum: Autism Research News

Children with autism detect certain kinds of motion better than their peers do, but don’t tune out distracting visuals.
 

Star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes weave a web of proteins that derails brain development in the autism-like Costello syndrome. The findings add to mounting evidence that brain cells other than neurons contribute to autism.

Children whose older sisters are on the spectrum are at higher risk for autism than are those with affected older brothers, a new study suggests. Younger brothers of children with autism are at greater risk than younger sisters.

Researchers are using social media and an online ‘brain-training’ program to study people with rare chromosomal abnormalities linked to autism.

Monkeys whose mothers are infected with a mock virus while pregnant show abnormal branching of certain brain cells. The findings may help explain why infection during a woman’s pregnancy ups the risk of autism in her children.

The thick bundle of nerve fibers that links the left and right hemispheres of the brain develops differently in children with autism, a nine-year study has found.