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red beating heart, in see-through person

Getting at the heart of autism

Cardiac activity could reveal autism's physiology and confirm a hunch many clinicians share: that people with autism experience great stress.

By Daisy Yuhas
9 October 2019 | 13 min read
Boy on bed is weighed down by pressures and troubles

The deep emotional ties between depression and autism

Autistic people are four times as likely to experience depression over the course of their lives as their neurotypical peers. Yet researchers know little about why, or how best to help.

By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
31 July 2019 | 14 min read
a human brain model made of springs is shaking on its spring base

The link between epilepsy and autism, explained

Autism and epileptic seizures often go hand in hand. What explains the overlap, and what does it reveal about autism’s origins?

By Jessica Wright
21 October 2019 | 4 min read
linked hands in a pattern intertwined with DNA showing some broken parts, symbolizing mutations

Rett syndrome’s link to autism, explained

Studies of Rett syndrome hint at genes, cells and brain circuits that may be involved in autism — and may pave the way to treatments for both conditions.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
21 October 2019 | 5 min read
Mouse shows friendliness to all mice, friends or strangers

What two rare ‘social’ syndromes reveal about autism

Studying Smith-Magenis and Potocki-Lupski syndromes — two single-gene conditions in which people have trouble reading social cues — may boost our understanding of autism.

By Katherina Walz
21 October 2019 | 5 min read

What Ehlers-Danlos syndrome can teach us about autism

Not much is known about the connection between autism and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition that affects collagen. But preliminary work provides tantalizing clues.

By Emily Casanova
21 October 2019 | 6 min read

Angelman syndrome’s silent gene points way forward for autism therapies

Advances in research and help from families have brought scientists to the brink of an effective therapy for Angelman syndrome.

By Stormy Chamberlain
21 October 2019 | 4 min read
row of babies playing with toys that look like genome sequence

Studies of tuberous sclerosis may shed light on biology of autism

Tuberous sclerosis provides a unique opportunity to understand autism because about half of people with that single-gene condition also have autism.

By Mustafa Sahin
24 September 2019 | 5 min read

From the archives

medical personnel in operating theater during brain surgery

Can preventing seizures alter the course of autism?

Experimental surgeries to prevent seizures may help scientists understand the link between autism and epilepsy.

By Jessica Wright
18 September 2019 | 17 min read
Illustration shows a boy gazing anxiously up at a large couch and pictures on a wall.

Unmasking anxiety in autism

Anxiety can assume unusual forms in people with autism — turning uncertainty, or even a striped couch, into a constant worry. New tools may help identify these hidden fears.

By Jessica Wright
4 October 2017 | 18 min read

Decoding the overlap between autism and ADHD

Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often coincide, but the search for common biological roots has turned up conflicting evidence.

By Ricki Rusting
7 February 2018 | 13 min read
brain made of thread shows OCD loop in colored thread

Untangling the ties between autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder

Autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder frequently accompany each other; Scientists are studying both to understand how they differ.

By Daisy Yuhas
27 February 2019 | 13 min read
Illustration: a brightly colored child stands among dark, shadowy figures.

The social ties between autism and schizophrenia

Autism and schizophrenia share a long and tangled history. Comparing the social features of the two conditions could lead to better treatments and a deeper understanding of each.

By Daisy Yuhas
12 July 2017 | 18 min read

Single molecule tracks with mutation’s path to autism, cancer

A molecule made by mitochondria, the energy factories of cells, might help doctors forecast the impact of mutations in a top autism gene.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
17 October 2019 | 3 min read

Regression in Rett syndrome may inform autism

Studying regression in Rett syndrome may help us understand the phenomenon in autism, as it occurs at the same time in both disorders and includes many of the same features, says Jeffrey Neul.  

By Jeffrey Neul
18 June 2013 | 7 min read

Insights for autism from schizophrenia

Lessons learned from postmortem studies of schizophrenia are applicable to research on autism, a disorder for which brain tissue has not been as well studied, say Allison Curley and David Lewis.

By David Lewis, Allison A. Curley
13 November 2012 | 4 min read

Insights for autism from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and autism are both associated with alterations in the number of copies of certain genetic regions, mutations in multiple candidate genes and with both inherited and spontaneous mutations, notes human geneticist James Lupski.

By James Lupski
27 September 2011 | 8 min read

Insights for autism from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder show genetic and neurobiological overlap, which may provide clues to the origin of both disorders, says Joel Nigg.

By Joel Nigg
7 February 2012 | 8 min read

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Rajesh Rao reflects on predictive brains, neural interfaces and the future of human intelligence

Twenty-five years ago, Rajesh Rao proposed a seminal theory of how brains could implement predictive coding for perception. His modern version zeroes in on actions.

By Paul Middlebrooks
18 December 2024 | 97 min listen
Portrait of Yves Fregnac

In memoriam: Yves Frégnac, influential and visionary French neuroscientist

Frégnac, who died on 18 October at the age of 73, built his career by meeting neuroscience’s complexity straight on.

By Bahar Gholipour
18 December 2024 | 9 min read
Illustration shows a solitary figure moving through a green and blue field of dots moving at different rates.

Explaining ‘the largest unexplained number in brain science’: Q&A with Markus Meister and Jieyu Zheng

The human brain takes in sensory information roughly 100 million times faster than it can respond. Neuroscientists need to explore this perceptual paradox to better understand the limits of the brain, Meister and Zheng say.

By Claudia López Lloreda
17 December 2024 | 8 min read