Motor problems in infancy may forecast autism
Among infants with a family history of autism, those later diagnosed with the condition have trouble holding up their head and grasping objects at 6 months of age.
Among infants with a family history of autism, those later diagnosed with the condition have trouble holding up their head and grasping objects at 6 months of age.
Growing up with a brother or sister on the spectrum motivates some young people to devote their careers to investigating autism.
Mutations in a gene called POGZ lead to a constellation of traits, including a small head, developmental delay and, often, autism.
Treatments for autism might be effective even after the brain is fully formed.
Children with autism who have trouble learning to sit up, crawl or walk also tend to have difficulty learning to speak and understand words.
Preschool-age children with autism who have severe repetitive behaviors and intensely restricted interests tend to lag intellectually and struggle with daily living skills later on.
A drug that curbs the expression of MeCP2, a gene duplicated in people with an autism-linked syndrome, normalizes brain function and reverses abnormal behaviors in mice.
Left to languish in psychiatric institutions or drugged for disorders they never had, many older adults with autism were neglected or forgotten for decades. Efforts to help them are finally underway.
Some restricted and repetitive behaviors may have hidden benefits for people with autism, so scientists should work to find a happy medium between acceptance and change.
Structural changes in the connections between neurons may underlie the enhanced learning and motor skills of a mouse model of autism.