Spectrum: Autism Research News

People with dup15q syndrome tend to walk slowly, have a wide stance and take short steps.

Mice with an extra copy of UBE3A, a gene linked to autism, have learning problems and anxiety, and are prone to seizures and fine-motor problems.

A drug that keeps neurons bathed in the chemical messenger serotonin prevents social abnormalities in a mouse model of dup15q syndrome.

Exposure to a dim light at night disrupts sleep and worsens repetitive behaviors and social difficulties in a mouse model of autism.

About 8 percent of non-inherited mutations in people with autism occur in only some of the body’s cells, according to a study of 20,000 people.

Roughly 23 of every 10,000 children in India have autism, according to the country’s first rigorous estimate of autism prevalence.

Babies with a family history of autism have heart rates that are unusually low and that respond aberrantly to speech sounds.

RNA segments that control when and where genes are expressed may be involved in autism.

Monkeys with a mutation in the Rett syndrome gene, MeCP2, have social difficulties and repetitive behaviors.

Patterns of brain activity in 6-month-old babies accurately predict which children will be diagnosed with autism at age 2.