Family members of individuals with autism process faces and scenes differently than do controls, according to two new studies, one of them published in October. This suggests that visual processing may be an autism endophenotype — a measurable symptom that represents part of the genetic risk of a disorder.

Three new approaches to brain imaging, presented Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans, allow researchers to probe how the brain responds to social situations.

The amygdala, an almond-shaped nub of brain tissue that processes emotions, has specialized neurons that respond to facial expressions and eye contact, according to unpublished work presented Monday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

Sharing data and tools is universally efficient, but the study of autism in particular presents challenges that can benefit from an open-science framework, says Randy Buckner.

Women who have a history of bipolar disorder or depression are more likely to have a child with Asperger syndrome than classic autism, according to a study published in the 2012 issue of Autism Research and Treatment.

Many researchers have reported atypical brain connectivity in people with autism lying passively in a brain scanner. But those differences may be the result of what participants are thinking about, rather than of an underlying neural defect, according to a poster presented Sunday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

Individuals with autism rely more on words than on facial expressions when interpreting social cues, and this may result from low activity in two brain regions, according to a paper published 22 June in PLoS One.

Research into the ability of children with autism to imitate has produced contradictory results: Some studies find that those with the disorder have difficulty imitating people, whereas others find no problems. A new study explores why.

Lowering blood levels of the amino acid tryptophan, a precursor to the chemical messenger serotonin, changes how the autism brain responds to emotions, according to a report published 4 June in PLoS One.

People with autism respond emotionally to music, they just have trouble expressing it, according to a study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.