Newly discovered mutations in a gene called SETD5 caused intellectual disability and autism-like symptoms in seven children, according to a study published 3 April in The American Journal of Human Genetics.
 

Inducing seizures in young mice leads to autism-like social behavior, as well as problems with learning and memory, according to a paper published 29 March in Experimental Neurology.

The cortex, the outer layer of the brain, grows rapidly in early childhood in people with autism and thins differently with age than it does in controls, two new studies report.

People with autism tend to carry mutations that duplicate or delete several genes at once, according to a large study published 1 May in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

The nature of the mutation that leads to Angelman syndrome — a disorder characterized by speech impairment and developmental delays — affects the disorder’s presentation, reports a study published 19 March in Research in Developmental Disabilities.

Autism, schizophrenia and intellectual disability share underlying deficits in pathways that regulate how the brain encodes new experiences, says Jason Shepherd.

The symptom severity of three girls with fragile X syndrome tracks with how much the levels of the fragile X protein in their blood differs from that of their unaffected mothers. If the results, published 29 January in Molecular Syndromology, are confirmed in a larger study, they may help doctors predict how the disorder will manifest in girls.

Roughly one-third of children with fragile X syndrome also have an autism diagnosis. Studies published in the past few months, however, suggest that the set of autism-like symptoms seen in people with fragile X syndrome may only resemble autism superficially.

Following disappointing results from two clinical trials, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis announced on 24 April that it will stop development of a drug candidate for fragile X syndrome.

By age 2, children with autism show difficulty with movement, communication, emotional control and problem-solving, distinct from the symptoms of children with other disorders, reports a study published in February.