Infants later diagnosed with autism are slower to learn how to sit and stand and are less likely to spontaneously change positions than their typically developing peers, reports a study published 18 September in Infancy.

MeCP2, the gene associated with Rett syndrome, has widely variable effects on mouse brains depending on the mutation it carries, according to unpublished results presented Tuesday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Guinea pigs have advantages over other rodent species commonly used to model disorders such as autism, according to preliminary research published Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Rett syndrome affects many cellular pathways, but correcting just one of these with drugs approved for other purposes may be enough to alleviate symptoms of the disorder. This was the message from two presentations Tuesday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Tiny fluctuations in the limb movements of children with autism can predict the severity of their condition and track their response to treatments, according to two unpublished studies presented at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

An eye test that reveals defects in the cerebellum — a brain region that integrates sensory information to fine-tune movement — may help researchers home in on the brain circuits disrupted in autism, according to unpublished findings presented Monday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Regions of the brain that process vision and control movements are poorly connected in children with autism, according to results presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Rodent models that recapitulate the core features of autism often have additional traits, leading us to ask whether these traits are integral to autism, says Elisa Hill-Yardin.

Clinicians should place children under age 5 who have developmental delay into a broad diagnostic category, called ESSENCE, which may then resolve into any number of individual diagnoses over time, says Christopher Gillberg. 

Mutating MeCP2, the gene linked to Rett syndrome, in zebrafish allows researchers to investigate the disorder early in development, according to a study published 16 July in Frontiers in Neural Circuits.