A genome-wide association study lays a foundation for deeper investigation of these variants in neurodevelopmental conditions.

An imbalance in the number of excitatory neurons in early brain development may account for the difference.

Children with congenital heart disease have an increased likelihood of autism. Why?

Experiments offer clues to why certain mutations are associated with autism in some people and not others.

The findings add to the growing evidence that genes with disparate functions can play similar roles in brain development.

The mutation prevents certain amino acids from entering neurons, causing the cells to die early in development.

The gene, YTHDF2, has not previously been linked to autism.

The cells’ altered proliferation rates hint at ways to diagnose and potentially treat autism earlier.

The gene, YTHDF2, may be one of several that contribute to an autism subtype marked by an unusually big brain.

The size of the cerebral cortex seems to depend on when neural progenitor cells multiply or differentiate into glial cells and neurons.