Spectrum: Autism Research News

Genes that appear to play a role in some birds’ ability to learn songs are frequently mutated in autistic people.

In this edition of Null and Noteworthy, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee grapples with “groundbreaking” research and two reviews of interventions come to conflicting conclusions.

Rare variants that alter the expression of genes in the brain contribute to autism in people who also have a rare autism-linked mutation, according to a new study.

People with autism have more mutations than others do in both mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA that affects mitochondrial function.

Clues that problems with mitochondria contribute to autism have been accumulating for decades. In the past five years, a mutant mouse and a flurry of findings have energized the field.

A MECP2 gene therapy for Rett syndrome eases repetitive behaviors, anxiety and hyperactivity in a mouse model of Pitt-Hopkins syndrome.

These short reports from Spectrum journalists highlight some of the autism-related findings that caught our attention at the meeting this past week.

Treatments that counteract the effects of an SCN2A mutation in mice increase the animals’ sociability in adulthood, according to a new unpublished study.

Many autistic people have a little-known trait called alexithymia, defined as having difficulty identifying one’s own emotions. New research suggests that the overlap has been confounding studies of emotional issues in people with autism for decades.

Autism involves mutations in noncoding portions of the genome in at least 3 percent of people with the condition. The mutations occur in regions that help regulate known autism-linked genes.