The Simons Simplex Collection (SSC), a database of genetic and clinical information from families that include one child with autism, has gathered data from more than 2,000 different families, researchers report in the October issue of Neuron.

The first genome-wide linkage analysis of more than 1,200 families has identified regions implicated in autism as originating from either the paternal or maternal copies of chromosomes.

Brain imaging reveals distinct signatures in the language circuits of young toddlers with autism while they sleep, according to unpublished data presented yesterday at the IMFAR 2010 meeting in Philadelphia.

Among animal models of autism, the mouse reigns supreme. But could much simpler species — flies, bees, worms, fish — also teach us about the disorder?

More than one in every five children with autism turns to complementary and alternative approaches such as restrictive diets or vitamins, according to new survey. Children with autism also have high rates of digestive and sleep problems, the survey finds.

Researchers are using dogs as models of psychiatric and behavioral conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism.

The genetic culprit in fragile X syndrome — a form of mental retardation frequently accompanied by autism — can alter how much fruit flies sleep, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

For parents of children with autism, bedtime can be a boondoggle.

Serotonin is most commonly talked about in association with depression and anxiety. But for nearly 50 years, hyperserotonemia ― an elevated level of blood serotonin ― has been noted in roughly a third of autism cases.