A new report outlines priorities for studying adults with autism, ranging from designing diagnostic tests to the most effective models of long-term care.

Individuals with autism and those with specific language impairment have similar language deficits, but show differences in connectivity between language-related regions on structural brain scans, according to a study published 2 November in Cerebral Cortex.

In China, some parents of children with developmental disorders seek help — sometimes hundreds of miles from home — but have trouble getting it because of poor healthcare infrastructure, high costs, long lines and doctors’ lack of awareness.

The brain abnormalities characteristic of tuberous sclerosis may begin early in development and involve malfunctioning of neuronal precursors, according to studies of two different mouse models of the disorder published in October.

Toddlers with autism who have larger-than-normal heads are also taller and weigh more than controls, according to a study published in October in Archives of General Psychiatry.

In families that have at least one child with autism, significant motor impairments crop up in most children with the disorder and hardly any of their unaffected siblings, according to a study published 19 October in Autism.

Mice that have an excess of the Rett syndrome protein MeCP2 have biochemical and neuronal characteristics that are strikingly similar to those of mice that completely lack the protein, according to unpublished research described Sunday at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

By focusing on recessive mutations inherited from both parents, researchers have identified 50 new candidate genes for intellectual disability.

We’re headed to Washington, D.C. for the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, and hope to make your lives a little bit easier by reporting on what matters to you.

We’re headed to Washington, D.C. for the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, and hope to make your lives a little bit easier by reporting on what matters to you.