Spectrum: Autism Research News

Assessing social ability in adults with autism requires controlled tests involving real-time social interactions. Virtual reality makes this possible.

Finding a difference between people with and without autism is only the first step toward identifying a clinically useful marker of the condition.

Researchers must make heterogeneity in autism the object of their investigation, rather than treating it as an excuse for inconsistent results or an inconvenience in their quest to understand the disorder’s essence, argues Jon Brock.

The more researchers poke around, the more likely they are to find a significant effect — and the more likely that the effect they end up reporting is just a fluke. A new kind of journal article, the ‘registered report,’ may address this problem, says Jon Brock.

‘Underconnectivity’ is considered one of the best-supported theories for the neural basis of autism. But many questions remain unanswered, says Jon Brock.

Researchers must use better measures to show that experimental and control groups are well matched, says Jon Brock.