Charles Nelson, who famously showed that social deprivation damages the developing brain, is analyzing brain waves in babies to study how different genetic risk factors might lead to autism.

Researchers have linked the ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions to MET, a well-known autism gene, according to a study published 27 April in PLoS ONE.

Neurons that activate signals in a brain region important for language and imitation are smaller in the brains of individuals with autism than in those of controls, according to a study published 31 March in Acta Neuropathology.

Adults with autism have regional differences in brain volume in areas that play a role in social behavior and communication compared with controls, according to a large study published in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. The differences correlate with the severity of autism symptoms, the study also shows.

Children with autism activate more brain regions than controls do when listening to tonal inflections in speech that convey meaning. The findings were published 19 December in Child Neuropsychology.

Can people with autism, who lack the ability to understand others’ thoughts and feelings, fall in love?

SP1, a protein that regulates the expression of several autism candidate genes, could increase risk of the disorder by simultaneously altering the expression of a number of the genes, according to a study published 24 October in Biological Psychiatry.

Studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie autism is crucial to advancing our understanding of the disorder, says neuroscientist Eric Kandel.

A subset of neurons in the amygdala, a small brain region responsible for processing emotions, recognize whole faces rather than individual features, according to a study published 11 October in Current Biology.

The language deficit in autism is complex and diverse. With a no-nonsense and thoughtful approach, Helen Tager-Flusberg has devoted her career to sorting it all out.