Spectrum: Autism Research News

Sleep problems in autism may stem from the same biological changes that underlie the core features of the condition.

A new tracking system automatically logs and scores mouse behavior as well as a human observer does, according to a paper published 31 December 2013 in Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

Low levels of a thyroid hormone during pregnancy raise the risk of autism-like symptoms in the child by fourfold, according to a study published 13 August in Annals of Neurology.

Neurons from people with Timothy syndrome, and from mouse and rat models of the disorder, have defects in the growth of their branches, according to a study published 13 January in Nature Neuroscience.

Infants who are later diagnosed with autism are less attentive to the presence of a person onscreen at 6 months of age than their typically developing peers are, according to a study published 14 January in Biological Psychiatry.

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.