TAOK2, a gene in the autism-associated 16p11.2 chromosomal region, is part of a signaling pathway that builds neuronal connections during development, according to a study published 10 June in Nature Neuroscience.
Neurons lacking PTEN, an autism-associated gene also involved in cancer, are hyperconnected to both near and distant brain cells, according to a study published 1 February in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Children with autism have a smaller corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain, compared with controls, and this difference persists over two years of development, according to a study published 18 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
The brains of men and women with Asperger syndrome are more similar than are those of male and female controls, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Neuroradiology. The results lend support to the ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism, the researchers say.
Duplication of a region on the X chromosome leads to a genetic disorder characterized by severe autism, according to a study published 25 November in Annals of Neurology.
Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder show genetic and neurobiological overlap, which may provide clues to the origin of both disorders, says Joel Nigg.
The results of two new studies support recommendations against the use of brain scans to diagnose autism.
The brains of mice that model Rett syndrome are smaller than normal overall and have differences in specific regions similar to those seen in people with the disorder, according to unpublished research presented Wednesday at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Individuals who carry an autism-linked common variant in the MET gene have abnormally low brain connectivity, according to unpublished research presented at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
A well-studied mouse model of autism has a smaller-than-normal volume in several autism-associated brain regions.