The genetic and environmental factors that underlie difficulties with language differ from those that influence other autism traits, according to a new study of more than 3,000 twin pairs. The study, published 2 August in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, suggests that difficulty with language is not a core symptom of autism.
To characterize people who carry deletions in 16p11.2 and 15q13.3, genetic regions linked to autism, two studies published this summer looked in detail at dozens of people with either deletion. The studies found that deletions in these regions lead to diverse symptoms that only sometimes include autism.
Individuals who shed their autism diagnosis as they grow up don’t just overcome their social deficits — they also cease to show restricted interests and repetitive behaviors.
Mice modeling autism have trouble integrating different kinds of sensory information such as sight, sound and touch. A study published 31 July in Neuron reports that an imbalance between signals that calm neurons and those that excite them leads to these sensory problems.
Lorna Wing, who died in June, was the modest, kind and thoughtful mother of a daughter with severe autism. She was also a towering figure in the history of autism research, and her contributions to our understanding of autism cannot be overestimated.
A “beautiful” new study traces a complex repetitive behavior in a mouse model of autism to a subset of neurons in one brain region.
Doctors in European countries prescribe more medications to people with autism than do doctors in Asian countries, reports a study of 30 countries, published 3 June in Autism Research.
Watch the complete replay of Robert Malenka’s webinar on the molecular underpinnings of social reward.
Nearly 40 percent of people with Down syndrome also meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder, suggests a U.K. study of nearly 500 children, published in Autism Research.
The protein missing in fragile X syndrome is necessary for mice to respond to the stimulant cocaine, according to a study published 7 May in Neuron.