Extremely preterm babies later diagnosed with autism tend to show steep declines in development, a pattern that could flag them for intervention as early as 6 months of age.
A new treatment curbs deadly seizures in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy.
Looking for signs of autism in characters from history and literature can offer insight into society’s changing perceptions through time — but it can also increase the risk of stigma against people with the condition.
Gender and sexuality appear to be more varied among autistic people than among neurotypical people. What do scientists know about the connection?
Interviews with autistic people reveal that many miss their friends and opportunities for social connection, in stark contrast to orthodox views that they have little social motivation and prefer a life of self-isolation.
Autistic people and their families are increasingly experimenting with marijuana to try to ease problems such as insomnia, epilepsy and chronic pain — and traits of autism. But there is little evidence for its safety or effectiveness.
The bulk of the increase in autism prevalence stems from a growing awareness of the condition and changes to the diagnostic criteria.
Contrary to previous results, the blood pressure drug did not uniformly improve autism traits in a new clinical trial.
Mice missing the autism gene NLGN3 have altered social behaviors and brain responses to the hormone oxytocin, both of which improve after treatment with a drug that helps regulate protein production.
Conversations between an autistic and a typical person involve less smiling and more mismatched facial expressions than do interactions between two typical people.