Children with autism who have constipation are often also plagued by compulsive or repetitive behaviors, a core feature of autism, finds a study published 29 November in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Some children diagnosed with autism may fall into distinct subgroups based on their symptoms and other diagnoses, researchers report in the January issue of Pediatrics.

A strain of bacteria that lives in some people’s guts alleviates obsessive behaviors, anxiety and other symptoms in mice that model autism, researchers report today in Cell. The finding supports the intriguing link between the gut, brain and behavior.

Researchers have shown for the first time that glitches in a gene expressed at junctions between neurons can cause gut problems in mice. The unpublished results were presented Tuesday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Rodent models that recapitulate the core features of autism often have additional traits, leading us to ask whether these traits are integral to autism, says Elisa Hill-Yardin.

The autism-linked protein MET is expressed at the junctions between neurons during early brain development in mice, suggesting that it helps establish the connections, according to a study published 21 June in The Journal of Comparative Neurology.

Electronic health records may help researchers assemble information about autism, such as its full range of symptoms, from thousands of individuals, says Isaac Kohane.

Gut cells from children with autism who have gastrointestinal problems have gene expression patterns that suggest a unique immune disorder, according to a study published 8 March in PLoS One.

Watch the complete replay of Sarkis Mazmanian discussing new findings that support a connection between the gut microbiome and the autism brain. Submit your own follow-up questions.

Children with autism have higher levels than controls of dendritic cells, a subset of immune cells, according to a study published 11 October in Brain Behavior and Immunity.