A massive association study links five new genetic regions to schizophrenia and implicates MIR137, a regulatory RNA that plays a role in neuron development, in the disorder.

A large epidemiological study in Utah that relies on tax information and health records shows that income level does not affect the odds of having a child with autism or intellectual disability.

In families that have more than one child with autism, the middle children, particularly those born second, have a higher risk of developing autism than other children in the family, according to a study published 19 October in PLoS One. In families that have only one child with autism, however, risk of the disorder rises with each additional birth, the study found.

An autism-linked protein helps wire neurons together, according to two studies published in late September.

Boys with autism have a distinct facial structure that differs from that of typically developing controls, according to a study published 14 October in Molecular Autism.

Mice lacking a copy of SHANK3, a gene associated with autism and intellectual disability, show marked improvements in brain signaling after being treated with insulin-like growth factor 1, according to unpublished findings presented Saturday at the International Congress of Human Genetics in Montreal, Canada.

Individuals with Asperger syndrome perform at the same level as controls do on tests of visual ability, according to a study published 30 August in Biological Psychiatry. This result adds to growing evidence against the claim, made in an infamous 2009 study, that individuals with autism have superior vision.

Deleting one copy of TBX1, a gene located on the autism-linked chromosomal region 22q11.2, leads to social and communication deficits in mice.

Mouse pups with a duplication of GTF2I, a gene linked to Williams syndrome and autism, show extreme separation anxiety when separated from their mothers, according to unpublished findings presented Thursday at the International Congress of Human Genetics in Montreal, Canada.

A gene that changed rapidly after the human genome diverged from that of Neanderthals plays a critical role in brain development, according to unpublished results presented Thursday at the International Congress of Human Genetics in Montreal, Canada.