Stories by Spectrum

Technology can improve communication and curb social isolation of kids with autism

Genetic sequences that code for physical features that differ between boys and girls also seem to contribute to risk for the disorder 

Science has long debated whether meeting another’s gaze feels unpleasant or just uninteresting 

Rodents learn to put their heads under a microscope as a daily routine, letting researchers peer into their brains while the animals are relaxed and happy

A surprising visual advantage might help lead to better and speedier diagnosis 

People with autism tend to integrate auditory and visual information over longer windows of time

All three illnesses linked to glitches in nerve bundle linking brain hemispheres 

Most children who learn more than one language gain valuable skills, and researchers say this may also be true for children with autism

New study finds mice may need infection-fighting molecules to socialize

There is a fine line between autism and alexithymia—feeling emotions but being unable to identify them

Gene expression patterns point to new autism candidate genes that could also play roles in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder  

Researchers rethink the link between infections in pregnant women and autism in children

Researchers angling for government funds must now include both sexes in their animal studies—or explain why they don’t

Common gene variants that have minor effects may contribute about half the risk of developing autism

Experts say a $15-million trial to explore stem cells from cord blood for treating autism is premature

CHD8, a gene that regulates the structure of DNA, is the closest thing so far to an “autism gene”

Risperidone, the first drug approved for children with autism and the most widely used, improves some behavior but can have severe side effects such as sleepiness and weight gain

About one in 68 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism, according to the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data

It takes more mutations to trigger autism in women than in men, which may explain why men are four times more likely to have the disorder

Walking through Gordon Fishell’s lab now, you would never know that much of his research was swept away by last year’s superstorm. Other scientists at New York University’s medical center cannot say the same

The result could be due to the inattention to facial cues, not reduced empathy, among people with autism

Enzymes called topoisomerases are crucial for the expression of extremely long genes, including many that have been linked to autism

A new database pools health registry data from seven countries, dramatically boosting potential sample sizes for epidemiological studies of autism