The drug popularly known as ecstasy may boost sociability through brain circuits distinct from that underlying its ‘high.’

The ability to learn from social experiences wanes by adulthood, at least in mice — but the recreational drug ecstasy may bring it back.

The cerebellum, a brain region primarily associated with movement, may mediate the pleasure that comes from socializing.

Boosting the levels of the chemical messenger serotonin makes mice that model autism more social — and brings new hope to a shelved theory in autism.

The brain’s system for sensing pleasure and reward shows unusual activation patterns and an atypical structure in people with autism.

Rats with a mutation in CACNA1C, a gene linked to autism, make fewer happy squeaks while playing than controls do, and ignore other rats’ requests to play.

The latest manual of international disease codes is out, a franchise claims to have an autism cure, and two reports diverge on the validity of the social-motivation hypothesis.