autism spectrum disorder

Inactivating TAOK1 prompts tentacle-like protrusions to form all over a neuron’s surface, revealing the gene’s role in molding the membrane.

Data from postmortem brain tissues adds to the evidence that inflammation is associated with autism.

The approach could help test hypotheses about how atypical function of the brain’s immune cells contributes to autism.

Maternal infection during pregnancy may be associated with autism, as previous studies have suggested—but perhaps not in a causal way.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s investigation comes after a study showed prenatal exposure to topiramate roughly triples a child’s likelihood of having autism or intellectual disability.

Troves of sequencing data reveal genes tied to autism through different variant types, providing a more complete picture of the condition’s genetic roots and new clues to its heterogeneity.

A researcher’s existential crisis led to a scientific breakthrough.

A study finds that expression levels of certain genes that track with brain activity—particularly those involved in brain development—vary between people with autism and their non-autistic peers.

Compared with cells taken from non-autistic controls, neural precursors from autistic boys proliferated in atypical ways, a small study finds.

Some experts argue that better trials are needed before putting interventions into practice.

Low participant numbers render the results of many studies based on brain scans unreliable, an analysis finds.

A new wave of research is recruiting patients and other members of the public to serve as equal partners, bringing fresh perspectives to research on diseases and other conditions.

A study shows that a molecule produced by intestinal microbes can enter the brain and that its presence is also associated with altered brain connectivity.

The University of Washington researcher leveraged data from the Human Genome Project to identify genes underlying various health conditions and advance precision medicine.

The genes are involved in pacing the development of inhibitory and excitatory neurons. An imbalance in these two types of signaling is thought to play a role in autism.

The unbalanced gut flora present in some people with autism is not a driver of the condition but rather a consequence of eating behaviors characteristic of the condition, a new study claims.