Spectrum: Autism Research News

Children whose parents have a condition such as autism tend to have severe restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, even if they don’t have a diagnosis themselves.

People with autism show an atypical pattern of brain activity when trying to adopt another person’s point of view.

Clinical trials for autism drugs have been plagued with problems: bad design, the wrong measures, too broad a range of participants. All that is finally starting to change.

A new computer program accurately estimates the prevalence of autism from children’s medical and school records.

Children with autism may have increased blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that spurs the formation of neuronal connections.

Children born to parents who are 35 or older are at an increased risk of autism; for schizophrenia, the increased risk is limited to those born to mothers in their teens or early 20s.

One of the first studies to explore Hispanic families with a history of autism reveals that parents of children with the condition show some autism features themselves.

Metformin can reverse weight gain in children with autism who take antipsychotic medications.

A new imaging technique allows researchers to illuminate the junctions between neurons in a living person’s brain.

Children with autism have trouble relying on past experiences to gauge how long things typically take.