From parental age to infection during pregnancy, environmental elements can influence autism risk.
The ability to recognize faces and interpret facial expressions is programmed partly by genes and inherited separately from other traits, according to three independent studies published this year.
The proposed connection between premature birth and autism may be more complicated than it seems, according to a new report. Early birth may not cause classically defined autism but, rather, may predispose children to autism-like symptoms that are part of a larger syndrome, the researchers say.
Several genetic and animal studies in the past year have found intriguing ties between autism and DISC1, one of the oldest candidate genes for psychiatric disorders.
A class of medications widely used during pregnancy to treat asthma and prevent early labor increases the baby’s risk of autism and other psychiatric disorders, according to a controversial review in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
A new report adds to the wave of research on autism risk that’s shifting the focus from older fathers to older mothers.
There’s good news for autism research tucked into President Obama’s 2011 budget proposal: $222 million of it, to be exact.
Genetic variations that tweak the brain’s release of oxytocin — a hormone involved in social bonding and establishing trust — may increase the risk of developing autism or traits of the disorder, according to three new studies published in the past few months.
A large clinical trial to test the first drug specifically designed to treat autism is under way at 12 sites across the United States.
There is no evidence to support the idea of autism-specific gut problems, according to a review published Monday in Pediatrics.
Autism may be the result of faulty wiring that occurs during early brain development, according to two independent studies that looked at the origins of circuit disruption.
