Autism results from a diverse mix of common and rare genetic variants, many of which act in pathways that form and maintain connections between neurons. That’s the message from the largest genome-wide association studies of autism to date, published online today in Nature.

Scientists have found a handful of genes — including two that had not previously been associated with autism — that may increase risk of the disorder.

The characteristic inability of a person with autism to respond to emotions may stem from sustained arousal in the amygdala, the brain region needed to interpret emotions from facial expressions.

The genetic culprit in fragile X syndrome — a form of mental retardation frequently accompanied by autism — can alter how much fruit flies sleep, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

A much-publicized study reporting social and cognitive improvements in children with autism who breathed pure oxygen in a high-pressure chamber has met with skepticism from other autism researchers.

Newly discovered clusters of proteins in the brains of mice might help researchers understand how connections between neurons go awry in disorders such as mental retardation and autism.

Deleting the gene associated with Rett syndrome from the amygdala region of mouse brains triggers anxiety and problems with learning and memory, according to research published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Most young animals, from newly hatched chicks to 2-day-old humans, are exquisitely sensitive to the movements of other animals. But 2-year-old children with autism don’t pay special attention to this so-called ‘biological motion’, according to a study published today in Nature.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) yesterday committed $60 million from the stimulus package to fund research goals for autism laid out in the first federal ‘strategic plan’ for autism research. That plan, published 5 March, and crafted by a federal advisory panel over the past year, recommends 40 research studies with a projected cost of $800 million over the next decade.

A single gene variant is found more often in people who have both autism and gastrointestinal problems than in healthy controls, and could help explain the mysterious link between autism and the gut, according to a study published in the March issue of Pediatrics.