An overabundance of neuronal connections in the brains of people with autism may contribute to the motor impairments associated with the disorder.
 

The colorful brain maps created with diffusion imaging — a technique that uses the flow of water as a proxy for nerve tracts — are unlikely to represent the brain’s anatomy with accuracy, says a new study.

A customized microscope with moveable arms lets researchers simultaneously watch neurons fire in two areas of a mouse brain.
 

A new mathematical method helps researchers understand how brain connectivity in individuals varies from group norms.

Some cases of autism may result from glitches in immune cells in the blood: This provocative idea stems from a series of unpublished mouse studies presented yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Children with autism show different patterns of brain activity during everyday gestures and movements than controls do, suggest unpublished results presented today at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

People with autism who have mutations in a gene called PTEN have a distinct profile of cognitive impairments and structural abnormalities in the brain. The profile, published 7 October in Molecular Psychiatry, points to a subtype of autism with these features.

Many brain imaging studies of autism focus on neurons’ connections or activity, but examining neuronal tracts across the brain is equally informative, say Julia Owen and Pratik Mukherjee. 

A brain imaging study of 26 mouse models of autism reveals a broad range of structural abnormalities. The models cluster into groups with similar features, reports a study published 9 September in Molecular Psychiatry.

Mice with mutations in the autism-linked gene WDFY3 have enlarged brains reminiscent of those seen in some children with autism, according to a study published 8 September in Nature Communications.