Researchers have created a mouse carrying a deletion in SHANK3, an autism candidate gene, they reported yesterday in Nature. This is the second model of SHANK3 mutations but shows markedly more behavioral and brain defects compared with the first.

A new study shows that just a little bit of testosterone administered under the tongue can lower a woman’s skills at interpreting another person’s emotional state — especially if she has been exposed to high levels of testosterone in utero.

Toddlers with autism have typical — although delayed — language skills, but produce more growls, yells and, especially, squeals than do typically developing children, according to a study published in February in Autism Research.

The first study to look at mitochondria — the powerhouses of the cell — in postmortem brain tissue taken from children with autism has found significant abnormalities in their function in some regions of the brain.

Mutations in a gene that organizes synapses — the junctions between neurons — may increase the risk of autism, according to a study published in February in Autism Research. The study bolsters evidence linking a pathway involved in cell-to-cell communication to autism.

Researchers have extracted and sequenced DNA from 52 postmortem brains from the Autism Tissue Program, providing a resource to study mutations and gene expression differences in the brains of people with the disorder.

Integrating music into interventions helps children who have autism with their social skills, language and behavior. But methods should be standardized and tested for effectiveness at home, according to a meta-analysis published in January in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Languages lacking words for feelings can lead to ‘mind-blindness,’ a feature of autism, according to a 2009 study. Cognitive neuroscientist Helen Tager-Flusberg argues that language delay only partially explains the theory of mind deficits seen in people with autism.

A new technique for creating stem cells from hair may help researchers understand how neurons and the junction between them form.

The first international meeting on Phelan-McDermid syndrome brought together researchers and family members of those affected by the disorder, sparking collaboration and some emotion.