


A study by Caroline Robertson and her colleagues found that reduced social attention was not a static omnipresent characteristic of autism; rather, it was magnified only under certain real-world conditions where sensory processing demands were high.

Elise Robinson and colleagues identified a large genomic region — chromosome 16p — where a rare 16p11.2 variant associated with autism functionally converges with common polygenic variation across 16p. Both rare and common genetic variation at 16p decreased expression of neuronally expressed genes, with relevance for increasing autism risk.

Studies by two different research teams — one led by Ethan Greenblatt and the other by Emily Osterweil — both suggest that FXS cells under-synthesize large proteins, findings that suggest a new point of view on a fundamental problem.