Long genes, and their relationship to a class of enzymes that regulate gene expression, raise intriguing questions about the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders.
 

The most popular drugs prescribed for autism in some countries often have serious side effects or have not been vetted in robust clinical trials, finds a study published 5 September in Psychopharmacology.

As much as 30 percent of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder may also have autism, suggests a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Small regulatory RNA molecules are most active between infancy and early childhood in a region of the brain known for complex thinking and behavior, reports a new study published 6 August in Molecular Psychiatry. The finding, based on an analysis of postmortem brains, may provide insight into what goes wrong in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

Fragile X syndrome is the leading cause of inherited intellectual disability and often autism, but most people who work with special-needs children lack basic knowledge about the syndrome, according to a new study.

Watch the complete replay of Benjamin Philpot discussing the possibility of pharmacologically turning on a silent gene to treat Angelman syndrome. Submit follow-up questions.

Like any high school or college student, those with autism who do internships and receive career advice also improve their chances of landing a job, reports a study published 27 July in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Researchers have developed a method to engineer rats so that they lack a certain gene in only select regions of the brain, they report in the July issue of Nature Methods.

A shifting understanding of the role of motor control in people with autism who also have speech deficits raises important questions about language development in the disorder.

Girls with autism tend to have smaller heads and bodies than their typically developing peers, whereas boys with the disorder tend to have average-sized heads and slightly larger bodies, report two studies published in July.