Emotional self-awareness and empathy, two related qualities that those with autism often lack, are associated with activity in the anterior insula, a region of the brain thought to regulate feelings, researchers have found.

In the past year, there have been numerous reports linking autism and exposure to, among other things, pesticides, power plants and pyrethrin-based pet shampoos.

Researchers and bioethicists are reacting with anger to reports of a US National Institutes of Health study, intended to investigate the controversial chelation treatment for children with autism.

Late in June, an announcement appeared on the website of GeneDx, a genetic testing company based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was highlighted in red with a single word: “new”.

Parents of some children with autism rely on othersʼ mouths rather than eyes to read emotions, just as individuals with autism do, according to a study published today in Current Biology.

Many cases of autism originate not in the brain, but in the gut, according to a few controversial studies published in the past year.

Autism may interfere with the brainʼs ability to adapt to experience early in development, according to a study published today in Science that uncovers several new risk genes for the disorder.

People with autism display atypical patterns of brain activity while viewing faces: thatʼs the conclusion from a study that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess what happens in the brain when people see faces.

The so-called trust hormone oxytocin could prove to be an effective treatment for autism, but itʼs premature for parents to be dosing their kids with the hormone, researchers warn.

In February 2006, psychology researcher Gary Mesibov introduced an electronic diary to a few teens with autism at his clinic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.