Some copy number variants may boost a person’s chances of having autism, but to a lesser extent than previously thought.

As 2021 comes to a close, Spectrum recaps some of the biggest trends in autism science this year: studies of sex differences, noncoding regions of the genome and points of convergence, as well as efforts to improve screening and participatory research.

For Spectrum’s fourth annual book, we offer a guide to prevalence estimates.

Developmental delay, intellectual disability and behavioral issues are common among people who have mutations in MYT1L, a gene with strong ties to autism.

New software can automatically identify and quantify mouse social behavior from videos, saving researchers time.

Deleting a copy of the gene TBX1 depletes the fatty myelin insulation that surrounds neurons and reduces cognitive speed in mice.

Many autistic people have a little-known trait called alexithymia, defined as having difficulty identifying one’s own emotions. New research suggests that the overlap has been confounding studies of emotional issues in people with autism for decades.

Treating cognitive inflexibility — for example, by practicing problem-solving — might help ease anxiety and depression in autistic people.

Scientists should heed these differences when considering resting-state brain activity as a biomarker for autism, the researchers say.

On 28 October, Zachary J. Williams, a medical and doctoral student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, spoke about measuring alexithymia in autistic people and the importance of developing and validating measures for specific populations.