This year’s list of top papers highlights nuances in the genetics of autism and new leads on early treatment.

The advocacy organization Autism Speaks releases its three-year strategic research plan, a new autism journal is slated for 2019, and updated U.S. developmental disability prevalence numbers are published.

Adults on the spectrum explain the problem with eye contact, experts offer tips for students with autism considering college, and men with autism respond differently to the “smell of fear.”

Eye-tracking studies cement monkeys’ promise for studying autism and related conditions.

Researchers have used light to manipulate neurons that dampen brain activity in rhesus macaques.

Following women with autism through pregnancy and beyond may reveal factors that shape the likelihood of autism in their children.

Autism and schizophrenia share a long and tangled history. Comparing the social features of the two conditions could lead to better treatments and a deeper understanding of each.

The tendency of people with autism to not make eye contact is rooted in genetics, suggests a study of identical and fraternal twins.

Monkeys with a mutation in the Rett syndrome gene, MeCP2, have social difficulties and repetitive behaviors.

Fetuses favor patterns of light that resemble faces over those without face-like features, suggests the first study of its kind.