Researchers should consider the influence of gut bacteria on brain function, especially when studying neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, say John Cryan and Roman Stilling.

A shortage of trained doctors, lack of awareness and long waiting lists for specialized care delay diagnosis and treatment of autism in many low- and middle-income countries, report two new studies.

Rapamycin, a drug given to suppress immune rejection after transplants, improves social behavior in mice with features of autism, reports a study published in the January issue of Brain Research Bulletin.

A new research network aims to study autism’s least-understood population: those with the most severe forms of the disorder. Three experts weigh in on the project’s potential impact.

Researchers have developed a system that allows them to record the activity of neurons from as many as 20 worm embryos at once, they reported 5 November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Watch the complete replay of Michael Merzenich discussing how the brain’s ability to change with experience may lead to new treatments for autism.

Intelligence quotients of toddlers with autism closely predict how they will fare as adults, reports a 17-year study published 9 December in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

What would you do with a carload of money? Which scientist secretly wants to be an NFL coach? Autism researchers fill in the year’s blanks … Mad Libs-style. Read and submit your own.

Oxytocin, the infamous ‘love hormone,’ may attune the brains of people with autism to respond to social information such as facial expressions, researchers reported 2 December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study boosts oxytocin’s promise for treating the social deficits seen in autism.

Anxiety runs in families with a history of autism, hinting that the two conditions may share a common origin, suggests a twin study published in November.