The brains of boys with autism have a lower-than-normal rate of water diffusion across the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus — a bundle of neurons that connects all four major lobes of the brain, according to a new study.
Impairments in vision, even if they don’t cause autism, are likely to be manifestations of underlying neural abnormalities, says Pawan Sinha, professor of vision and founder of the humanitarian organization Project Prakash.
Contrary to popular assumption, people diagnosed with so-called mild forms of autism don’t fare any better in life than those with severe forms of the disorder. That’s the conclusion of a new study that suggests that even individuals with normal intelligence and language abilities struggle to fit into society because of their social and communication problems.
Even small head movements inside a brain scanner can affect results, according to a report published 23 July in Neuroimage.
Two autism-associated genes that function at the synapse, the junction between neurons, are associated with severe intellectual disability, according to a study published 9 August in BMC Medical Genetics.
The handful of studies of autism in Africa suggest that only the most severely affected children are seen in clinics.
Collapsing the three core domains of autism — impairments in social interaction, communication deficits, and repetitive and restricted behaviors — into two makes no difference in the accuracy of diagnosis, according to a statistical analysis published 20 August in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Researchers have created the first mouse model of Timothy syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes heart defects and autism. The findings appeared 30 August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A new review suggests that sleep problems in neurodevelopmental disorders don’t just reflect underlying weaknesses in neural circuitry; they actively intensify these deficits.
A compound that shows promise as a treatment for fragile X syndrome alleviates repetitive behaviors in mice, but unexpectedly makes them less social.