Rebooting Becky’s brain
An electrical brain implant all but erased the obsessions that had consumed Becky Audette, years after her autism diagnosis. Could similar implants help other people with severe autism?
An electrical brain implant all but erased the obsessions that had consumed Becky Audette, years after her autism diagnosis. Could similar implants help other people with severe autism?
A pruning protein reshapes neurons, culture should be a consideration in trials of autism treatments, and another U.S. state adds autism to the list of indications for medical cannabis.
Two researchers balk at talk that Wi-Fi and autism are linked, changes in an autism risk gene are tied to obsessive-compulsive traits in three species, and scientists plan to conduct a census of all of the brain’s cell types.
Anxiety can assume unusual forms in people with autism — turning uncertainty, or even a striped couch, into a constant worry. New tools may help identify these hidden fears.
Researchers in Oregon edit human embryos, prenatal antidepressants may play a role in autism risk, and gut microbiota are associated with early cognition.
Conventional wisdom holds that people with autism don’t get hooked on alcohol or other drugs, but new evidence suggests otherwise.
Children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder all show similar disruptions in brain structure.
Headlines about “autistic monkeys” are missing the point, prairie voles show empathy, and dogs could offer clues to psychiatric conditions in people.
The largest study of people with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder to date adds to mounting evidence that the two conditions share genetic roots.
The ability to recognize emotions varies along a continuum that spans autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.