Spectrum: Autism Research News

Because infants born into families with autism are more likely to develop the condition, studying them might lead to ways to diagnose people in the general population earlier.

Heavier newborns have larger brains later in life, and a larger cerebral cortex — the brain region responsible for high-level functions such as consciousness and language. The findings, published 19 November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are the first to assess birth weight’s connection to brain development.

Two new studies that follow the development of children with autism suggest that distinct subgroups of the disorder exist early on, and that the severity of symptoms in most of these children remains stable over time.