Researchers have uncovered a rare, genetic form of autism caused by mutations that speed up the breakdown of certain amino acids. The findings, published 6 September in Science, suggest that nutritional supplements may alleviate symptoms of the disorder in people with these mutations.
A new device allows researchers to identify the precise source of an emitted brain signal measured in freely moving rats, according to a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology.
A compound called baclofen restores the balance between different types of brain signals and alleviates autism-like behaviors in mice, according to a study published 17 July in Translational Psychiatry. A similar drug called arbaclofen is in clinical trials as a treatment for autism and fragile X syndrome.
Home videos suggest that babies later diagnosed with autism gesture differently than typically developing babies or those with other developmental disorders.
Postmortem brains from individuals with autism allow researchers to look at patterns of gene expression in different cell types, and to understand the interplay among neurons and neural circuits, says Dan Arking.
Children with autism who spoke their first words before 2 years of age may have better outcomes than those who talked later, according to a study published 7 June in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Girls are less likely to be diagnosed with autism than boys are, unless they also have intellectual or behavioral problems, according to a study published 26 June in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Parents of minority children with autism are more likely to report that their children have poor quality of care than are parents of minority children with other developmental disabilities.
Mutations in AFF2, a gene located on the X chromosome, are about five times as common in men with autism as in controls, according to a study published 10 July in Human Molecular Genetics.
About 1 in 500 children referred to genetic testing for undefined developmental delay, intellectual disability, or autism have duplications of the 15q11-13 chromosomal region, according to a new analysis. That makes the region the second most common large genetic alteration linked to autism.