After a decade of fast-paced discovery, researchers are racing toward bigger datasets, more genes and a deeper understanding of the biology of autism.

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Pups born to pregnant mice infected with a mock virus are known to show changes in their immune system. These effects may in turn impair proper brain signaling, according to results presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Probing the function of a protein in a calcium signaling pathway may lead to a diagnostic test for autism and a path toward treatments.

Mice have long been the mainstay of autism research, but a small group of scientists say rats are the superior choice. Rats are bigger, smarter, friendlier — and a lot more fun.

Researchers have engineered two new rats with mutations in a family of genes that function at neuronal junctions, they reported today at the 2014 International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta.

Scientists have discovered more than 100 new proteins at junctions in the brain that dampen neuronal activity.

The brains of people with autism show a distinct molecular signature that reflects alterations in how genes are pieced together and expressed.

Peruse our picks for the best science photos published on Spectrum this year.

Spectrum’s team reported about 50 stories at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. One big theme this year: how autism relates to bigger questions in neuroscience.