Spectrum: Autism Research News

Some clinicians say the term describes a subtype of autism, but others dispute its validity and say it is harmful to the autistic community.

A researcher’s existential crisis led to a scientific breakthrough.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 25 July.

By breaking rodent vocalizations into parts, TrackUSF distinguishes rats with mutations in the SHANK3 gene from their wildtype counterparts.

Regions of the brain’s fear center expand in autistic children and teenagers with anxiety, but not in their autistic or non-autistic peers without anxiety.

People who have ‘profound autism’ — those with severe intellectual disability, limited communication abilities or both — tend to be excluded from research. The Autism Science Foundation seeks to change that.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 11 July.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 4 July.

After the vasopressin antagonist balovaptan flopped in a late-stage clinical trial, Suma Jacob and her colleagues took stock of all the factors that might have complicated the results.

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