Autistic people have distinct patterns of brain development, which sometimes result in differences in brain structure. Here’s what we know about those differences.

The brainstem controls such disparate functions as breathing, sensation and sleep — all of which can be altered in autism.

Brain structure of autistic people with deletions in the chromosomal region 22q11.2 differs from that of autistic people without the deletions.

Children with autism are more likely than typical children to have had problems falling asleep as infants, and to have shown brain overgrowth.

Several regions in the outer layer of the brain are thicker in children and young adults with autism than in their typical peers.

Some people with autism have an unusually large head. What causes the enlargement? And does it have any bearing on outcome?

People with mutations in CHD8, a top autism gene, tend to be tall and have large heads.

A new analysis of nearly 40,000 people pinpoints 48 genetic variants that may determine the volume of certain brain areas.

Blocking one form of an enzyme implicated in autism eases unusual behaviors and seizures in mice missing a top autism gene.

Researchers have used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to disable the MECP2 gene in marmoset embryos. The six such marmosets created seem to recapitulate aspects of Rett syndrome.