Children with autism who suffer from severe gastrointestinal problems show markedly lower-than-normal levels of enzymes needed to digest complex sugars, and of transporters that allow simple sugars to be absorbed into the blood.

Defects in a signaling pathway that regulates learning and memory could underlie regressive autism, a sudden loss of language or social ability.

Teenagers with milder forms of autism withdraw socially in adolescence, even as some symptoms associated with the disorder wane.

Girls with autism have more brain matter than do either controls or girls with developmental disabilities. This defect is particularly pronounced in the left superior frontal gyrus, a region in the medial prefrontal cortex that is responsible for higher-order cognitive function.

Individuals who have autism and dysmorphology comprise a distinct subgroup within the disorder, says geneticist Judith Miles. 

A $10 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation is funding a five-year project to develop new technologies that can help clinicians diagnose and treat autism.

A new study suggests that the key to social development lies in motor development, and in an infant’s early interactions with non-social objects.

Two new genetic mouse models that debuted this week show that having too many or too few copies of certain genetic regions leads to an array of symptoms reminiscent of autism.

Researchers have engineered four new mouse lines that each show activation of a different subset of neurons in response to a blue light.

Duplications and deletions of genetic regions linked to autism are rare in individuals referred for genetic testing, but occur at a higher rate than in the general population.