An immune molecule that helps defend people from infection with viruses or bacteria may also keep brain activity in check, allowing people to be social.

Mice that lack the Rett gene in a subset of neurons that activate neural circuits develop tremor and anxiety-like behaviors, two characteristics of the syndrome.

New evidence implicates the neurotransmitter glycine, which dampens brain signals, in autism.

A mathematical model of the brain’s circuits shows how neurons stuck in overdrive could produce symptoms of autism. The model may reveal how autism-linked behaviors arise from underlying biology.

Researchers have reconstructed in spectacular detail all of the complex circuits in a small piece of the mouse brain. They revealed the sublime images today in Cell.

Balls of neurons derived from skin cells of four boys with autism show shared alterations in biology and gene expression, researchers reported today in Cell. The findings finger FOXG1, a gene involved in brain development, as a player in autism.

Signals that relay sensations from nerves to the brain are abnormally strong in people with autism, a finding that may explain why some people with the disorder are overly sensitive to light, sound and touch.