News & Opinion

Researchers have identified a new mechanism that may underlie a runaway cell signaling pathway in fragile X syndrome. The results were published 22 January in Nature Neuroscience.  

Researchers have charted patterns of DNA methylation — a chemical alteration to DNA that modifies gene expression — in the planning center of the brain from before birth to old age. The results were published 10 February in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

Brain imaging studies of people with autism show that specific areas respond more strongly to song than do those of controls. The opposite is true when listening to speech.

Maternal antibodies that attack fetal brain proteins could underlie some cases of autism, says immunologist Betty Diamond.

The likelihood of being diagnosed with autism has increased for children born each year since 1992, especially for individuals at the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum, reports a study published 7 December in The International Journal of Epidemiology.