Spectrum: Autism Research News

In this edition of Null and Noteworthy, scientists find little to be excited about in research on biomarkers for neurodevelopmental conditions.

Both human and mouse progenitor cells with the alterations struggle to become neurons and instead express genes that are typically active only in muscle or the heart.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 30 January.

The gene, linked to a little-known condition called Weiss-Kruszka syndrome, prevents embryonic stem cells from deviating from their neuronal destiny.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 23 January.

The questionnaire, designed to screen children for autism, isn’t ready for clinical use without further validation, contrary to what some overblown newspaper headlines reported.

This edition takes aim at the autism-intervention evidence base with a slew of null results, plus findings that challenge a prevailing autism brain theory.

The measure breaks the behaviors down into eight distinct subdomains — categorization that could prove useful for clinical trials, its creator says.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 2 January.

Postmortem brain samples from people with one of six conditions, including autism, show distinct signatures of over- and underexpression of immune genes.