Using a little-known brain-imaging technique, a new study shows that children with autism have low levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical that keeps brain signals in check.
Infants at high risk of developing autism do not show the typical tendency to shift their language processing ability to one side of the brain around 9 months of age, according to a study published in December in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
In 2003, John Rubenstein and Michael Merzenich first described the theory, now popular in autism, that the disorder reflects an imbalance between excitation and inhibition in the brain. Takao K. Hensch and Parizad M. Bilimoria review the paper and its impact on the field.
Husband and wife research team Andrew Meltzoff and Patricia Kuhl have shown that learning is a fundamentally social process, beginning in early infancy.
Children with autism are better than controls at remembering melodies and detecting differences in pitch, according to a study published 13 November in Autism.
Eyes and ears work together to help us communicate with others. In a video interview with SFARI.org, Sophie Molholm explains that this process goes awry in children with autism.
Rats lacking FMR1, the gene mutated in people with fragile X syndrome, do not learn to discriminate between human speech sounds like control rats do, according to research presented Monday evening at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.
Sensory illusions are much more than just parlor tricks or diversions, says Carissa Cascio. In a video interview with SFARI.org at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, she explains why sensory illusions work, and what they might be able to teach us about autism.
Children with autism are less susceptible to an illusion involving sight and touch, according to unpublished research presented Monday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.
Children with autism recruit different brain regions than controls do when estimating how much time has gone by, according to unpublished research presented Monday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.