Women who take antidepressants such as Prozac while pregnant may increase their sons’ risk of autism and developmental disability, reports a study published 14 April in Pediatrics. But, like other studies before it, the study leaves room for doubt.

Roughly one-third of children with fragile X syndrome also have an autism diagnosis. Studies published in the past few months, however, suggest that the set of autism-like symptoms seen in people with fragile X syndrome may only resemble autism superficially.

A small study published 3 April in Molecular Autism has found that 98 percent of mothers of children with autism have unusual responses to sensory stimuli, including light, sound and touch.
 

Among the younger siblings of children with autism who do not have the disorder themselves, more than one-quarter show developmental delays at their first birthday, according to a study published in April.

The equivalent of one-tenth of a single pill of the anxiety drug clonazepam alleviates many autism-like behaviors in a mouse model of the disorder, according to a study published 19 March in Neuron.

Prebiotics — nutrients that promote the growth of some beneficial gut bacteria — can influence brain chemistry and behavior. New findings suggest prebiotics as treatments for people with neurological disorders, say Sarkis Mazmanian and Gil Sharon.

The symptoms of autism in boys who have fragile X syndrome differ from those in boys who have autism alone, according to a study published 11 January in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Using newly discovered molecules from algae, researchers can control the activity of two families of neurons in a single mouse or fly, they reported 9 February in Nature Methods.

A teenager with fragile X syndrome carries a rare mutation that changes a single amino acid in the FMRP protein, researchers reported 22 January in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

Adding to the complications of autism, overweight and obese children with the disorder are prone to a host of other troubles, including depression, anxiety and sleep problems, reports a study published 2 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.