Offspring born to pregnant rats with an activated immune system emit more distress calls when they receive electrical shocks than do controls, according to a study published 9 June in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

A girl with autism has a spontaneous deletion in CMIP, a gene associated with specific language impairment, providing another genetic link between the two disorders. The case study was published 11 June in Autism Research.

Researchers have launched an effort to yoke together disparate gene sequencing projects in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., aiming to double the number of known autism-related genes in the next three to four years.

Identifying genetic variants that affect the expression of other genes can enhance traditional gene association analyses and highlight candidate risk factors for autism, according to a study published 16 May in Molecular Autism.

The protein missing in people with fragile X syndrome may activate the expression of a signaling protein dubbed NOS1 during prenatal development of brain regions involved in language and social skills, according to a study published 11 May in Cell.

By sequencing the protein-coding region of the genome of a single affected family member, researchers were able to diagnose 20 percent of people in 85 consanguineous families with unknown neurodevelopmental disorders, according to research published 13 June in Science Translational Medicine.

The Allen Institute convened a five-day ‘hackathon’ to create new tools that take advantage of the petabytes of brain mapping data in the institute’s massive databases.

Researchers have linked the ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions to MET, a well-known autism gene, according to a study published 27 April in PLoS ONE.

Analyzing how mutations in people with autism affect gene expression in blood-derived cells could help researchers pinpoint harmful mutations, according to research published 21 July in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

Researchers have released the first set of data from the Mouse Brain Architecture Project, which uses light microscopy to trace neuronal circuits in the mouse brain.