Researchers are just beginning to learn what happens in the brains of autistic children during adolescence to explain their unique social, cognitive and emotional challenges.

A growing body of evidence shows that brain cells called oligodendrocytes may play a larger role in autism than previously thought.

A new high-resolution imaging device tracks brain activity in awake mice, enabling researchers to map neural circuits across the entire brain.

A new wiring diagram of the mouse brain could help autism researchers better study how brain connections vary in mice with different genetic backgrounds.

Connections between the cerebellum and brain networks do not seem to contribute substantially to the emergence of autism traits.

People with autism or autism traits may be especially vulnerable to brain aging and cognitive decline, two studies suggest.

Environmental factors influence brain structure in autistic children more than in non-autistic children, according to an analysis of imaging data from twins.

Mutations in autism-linked genes lead to a variety of changes in brain activity, sensory perception and sleep-wake cycles in zebrafish.

Even when they share identical genetic backgrounds, mice from separate litters show different patterns of development, according to a new study.

The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.