Autism’s core symptoms accompany a constellation of subtle signs that scientists are just beginning to unmask.
Many toddlers with autism have weak connections between the two sides of the brain, according to the first-ever analysis of brain connections in young children with the disorder, published 23 June in Neuron.
Cognitive traits associated with autism may have helped our ancestors survive, according to a fascinating new study. But those traits are no longer an advantage.
FOXP2, a gene tied to autism and language disorders, is needed for proper wiring of the developing brain, according to a study published 7 July in PLoS Genetics.
A multi-site collaborative venture between the U.S., Canada and Europe has created nearly 17,000 mouse embryonic stem cell lines, each lacking one of the genes in the mouse genome.
A powerful magnet that alters brain activity has shown that a brain region responsible for language may function differently in adults with Asperger syndrome than in controls, according to a study published in the July issue of the European Journal of Neuroscience.
Women with a mild version of primary ovarian insufficiency, a disorder that mimics the symptoms of menopause, should be tested for a mutation that can lead to fragile X syndrome, according to a study published 15 June in Human Reproduction.
Some computer hackers are pleading their autism diagnosis to avoid jail time.
Studying the infant siblings of children who have autism to identify early signs of the disorder is expected to have enormous impact on the field from a clinical and a basic science standpoint, says psychologist Karen Dobkins.
Blood cells from individuals who have autism produce less-than-normal amounts of SHANK3 and NLGN3 proteins, according to a study published 26 May in Molecular Autism.
A plan by an American Psychiatric Association revision committee to remove Rett syndrome from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has sparked concern among some parents and researchers. But proponents of the change say the plan has been widely misunderstood, and their goal is better treatment for people with the neurodevelopmental disorder.
