Outlook: Autism

Recent articles

Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Culture: Diverse diagnostics

The study of autism around the globe must account for a variety of behavioural norms in different societies.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
6 December 2012 | 10 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Perspective: Imaging autism

Several studies in the past two years have claimed that brain scans can diagnose autism, but this assertion is deeply flawed, says Nicholas Lange.

By Nicholas Lange
6 December 2012 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Epidemiology: Complex disorder

Researchers are digging into the myriad causes of autism to refine its definition and find elusive biological signatures.

By Virginia Hughes
6 December 2012 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Perspective: Brain scans need a rethink

Head movement can bias brain imaging results, undermining a leading theory on the cause of autism, say Ben Deen and Kevin Pelphrey.

By Benjamin Deen, Kevin Pelphrey
6 December 2012 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Treatments: In the waiting room

After years of making do with drugs developed for other conditions, doctors and scientists are eagerly pursuing drugs that target the social symptoms of autism.

By Michael Eisenstein
6 December 2012 | 13 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Diagnosis: Redefining autism

Draft diagnostic guidelines are raising concerns that mild forms of the disorder may no longer be recognized.

By Emily Singer
6 December 2012 | 10 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Adulthood: Life lessons

We know little about autism past adolescence, but a well-studied generation of children with autism will change that.

By Lindsay Borthwick
6 December 2012 | 9 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Child development: The first steps

Because infants born into families with autism are more likely to develop the condition, studying them might lead to ways to diagnose people in the general population earlier.

By Katherine Bourzac
6 December 2012 | 13 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Genetics: Searching for answers

Solving the riddle of autism genetics will require looking beyond the growing list of candidate genes to epigenetics and personalized medicine.

By Sarah C. P. Williams
6 December 2012 | 15 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of a musical staff with notes represented by neurons.

This paper changed my life: Abigail Person on birdsong, feed-forward circuits and convergent computations

By isolating specific neuron types involved in zebra finch birdsong, this 2002 Nature paper from Michael Fee and colleagues revealed elegant neural mechanisms controlling the timing of natural learned behavior.

By Abigail Person
12 August 2025 | 6 min listen
Research image of mouse auditory brainstems.

Prosocial effects of oxytocin are state dependent; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 11 August.

By Jill Adams
12 August 2025 | 2 min read
A series of colored rectangles in a cosmos-like black space.

The challenge of defining a neural population

Our current approach is largely arbitrary. We need new methods for grouping cells, ideally by their dynamics.

By Mark Humphries
11 August 2025 | 9 min listen