Children born to people given an epidural during labor do not have an increased chance of having autism, according to two new studies.

Mock viral infections impair social memory in mice with a mutation tied to autism, and autistic boys are more likely than their non-autistic peers to have had serious infections early in life.

The link between autism and prenatal exposure to an immune response may involve altered levels of immune cells, according to a new study.

Autistic children are up to four times as likely as their non-autistic peers to have digestive problems, and several small studies show they may also have atypical microbial communities living in their guts.

Too little — or too much — of certain substances during pregnancy may increase the odds of having a child with autism. Here we explain what scientists know about these associations.

Genes influence how autistic people react to sights, sounds and other sensory cues, whereas environmental factors shape their tendency to notice and seek out such stimuli, a new study in twins suggests.

Treating mice missing the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 with a strain of gut bacteria makes them more social but no less hyperactive.

Training community members to help families access care increases the likelihood that children from low-income and minority groups will obtain diagnostic evaluations.

A typically protective stress response could help to explain the connection between maternal illness and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions are more common among children born by C-section than those delivered vaginally, but the procedure itself does not underlie the association, according to a new study.