Signs & Symptoms

A new open-source software package makes it possible to model changes in human and animal behavior over the course of an experiment.

A Hollywood-inspired video tool that captures movement in three dimensions over extended time periods shows that rats lacking the autism-linked gene FMR1 have different grooming patterns than controls do.

Mutations in the autism-linked gene DNMT3A lead to the behaviors and gene-expression changes seen in different neurodevelopmental conditions.

Autistic children may have a harder time catching a ball than non-autistic children do, possibly because they are less able to predict its trajectory.

Children with autism may have a subtly different set of bacteria in their gut than their non-autistic siblings do.

Children with dup15q syndrome may have telltale patterns of brain activity during sleep and get less non-REM sleep than neurotypical children do.

Connections between the cerebellum and brain networks do not seem to contribute substantially to the emergence of autism traits.

People with autism or autism traits may be especially vulnerable to brain aging and cognitive decline, two studies suggest.

Young male rats can recognize rats they’ve recently met, whereas young females treat new acquaintances like strangers, research shows.

During conversations, girls with autism use “we,” “they” and other plural personal pronouns differently than autistic boys do.