A new study examining trends in autism research over the past 40 years found that the largest areas of growth have been in immune function, oxidative stress, toxin exposure, genetics and neuroimaging, while research on theory of mind and neuropathology has slowed.

The language deficit in autism is complex and diverse. With a no-nonsense and thoughtful approach, Helen Tager-Flusberg has devoted her career to sorting it all out.

Social cognition tests using videos of actors performing emotional expressions and scenes can measure subtle impairments characteristic of high-functioning people with autism, according to unpublished research presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Tweaking a common test of spatial reasoning could help people with autism build social skills, according to unpublished research presented Monday at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Most neuroscientists who study autism focus on genes, pathways and mouse models, and rarely think about the day-to-day experience of people with the disorder, contends developmental psychologist Ami Klin.

Individuals with autism are no more likely to donate money when being observed than when alone.

Adolescents with autism may not use abstract reasoning to understand why certain acts are wrong, but they know the difference between a moral transgression and a social blunder.

Girls with autism have more brain matter than do either controls or girls with developmental disabilities. This defect is particularly pronounced in the left superior frontal gyrus, a region in the medial prefrontal cortex that is responsible for higher-order cognitive function.

Two new studies suggest that people with autism don’t all have trouble detecting the motion of people and animals. What they do struggle with is picking up social information from bodies in motion.

Girls who score high on a test that assesses symptoms of eating disorders have many features of autism.