Two networks of genes are abnormally expressed in the brains of people with autism, according to a study published today in Nature.

Parents of children with autism choose treatment options based on what they believe caused the disorder, according to a French study. More education about autism could help them make better choices.

A new analysis of children with autism and their unaffected parents provides the best evidence to date that mutations in multiple genes may work together to cause autism and related disorders.

Large studies on the epidemiology and genetics of epilepsy and autism have uncovered commonalities between the two disorders. But scientists are only beginning to untangle the biological roots of the overlap.

People who have severe gastrointestinal problems during childhood are no more likely to be on the autism spectrum than are healthy controls, a study reported 21 March in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology.

Good mouse models of autism, and accurate tests to assay their phenotypes, are key to both narrowing down a cause and developing effective treatments, argues expert Jacqueline Crawley.

Two large studies published in the past two months have found that traits linked to autism are widely distributed in the general population. Although about 1 in 100 children is diagnosed with autism, up to 30 percent of people may have at least one of the traits associated with the disorder.

Few scientists have a career that spans as wide a spectrum in autism research as Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. And fewer still garner effusive compliments from those who don’t agree with them.

A child in Australia is more likely to have autism if he or she is the first-born, is born to a woman who is older than 40 years, or belongs to a family of higher socio-economic status, according to a study published in March in PLoS One.

A high-profile autism researcher has been indicted for stealing more than $1 million in autism research money.