Spectrum: Autism Research News

Genetic factors could help explain why the ‘social hormone’ failed to benefit autistic people in a phase 3 clinical trial last year.

The male sex bias in autism may in large part be a product of how common diagnostic tools measure traits in boys versus girls at a single point in time, according to a new study.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 6 June.

The principal investigator of the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health wants to encourage more researchers to study physical health issues in autistic children and adults.

Researchers updated the tool’s scoring system to better align with the experiences of autistic people.

Increased white-matter maturation tracks with stronger language abilities later in childhood, but the relationship with cortical thickness is less clear.

The size of the cerebral cortex seems to depend on when neural progenitor cells multiply or differentiate into glial cells and neurons.

Many autism researchers say they are excited to gather in person for the first time in three years, but concerns about COVID-19 and the meeting location persist.

The loss of CHD8, a top autism gene, speeds up the production of certain neurons and leads to overgrowth in spheres of cultured brain cells.

Together, the neurons are part of the corticostriatal circuit, which has been implicated in autism.