News

Connections between neighboring groups of brain cells are weaker in individuals with autism than in controls, according to a report published 14 January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Bumetanide, a drug that’s long been used to treat high blood pressure, modestly improves social behaviors in children with mild forms of autism, according to the results of a small trial published in December in Translational Psychiatry.

Children with autism and their unaffected twins have heads that are significantly larger than average, according to a study published 16 January in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Deletions in the autism-linked gene AUTS2 trigger a variety of symptoms, including intellectual disability, developmental delay, a small head and unusual facial features, suggests a large study published 7 February in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Children with multiple copies of MeCP2, the gene linked to Rett syndrome, have an immune deficiency in addition to intellectual disabilities, impaired motor skills and seizures. The findings, published 5 December in Science Translational Medicine, may explain why these individuals suffer from frequent bouts of severe respiratory infections and pneumonia.