Biological motion

Recent articles

Brain activity patterns may distinguish girls with autism

Atypical patterns of neuronal activity and gene expression in the striatum may characterize autism in girls, according to a new study.

By Angie Voyles Askham
2 June 2021 | 4 min read
Child hesitating in front of a giant eye showing areas of the brain, facial recognition and other connections related to sight.

Seeing connections between autism and blindness

Autism is unusually common among people with congenital blindness, in part because the ability to see drives much of brain development.

By Rubin Jure
12 November 2019 | 6 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
Man's face with eyes looking left.

People’s affinity for social cues is inherited, study suggests

Genetics may govern a person's ability to pay attention to social cues.

By Jessica Wright
22 April 2019 | 4 min read

Quantitative tests of motor skills could improve autism care

New assessments of the subtle motor difficulties that characterize autism could improve autistic children's lives and teach us a lot about the condition.

By Rujuta Bhatt Wilson
2 April 2019 | 6 min read
baby reaching for toy

Motor traits that mark autism remain elusive, large study finds

Motor problems in autistic infants may parallel those in infants with other developmental conditions.

By Hannah Furfaro
18 March 2019 | 4 min read

Oversold diets; big brains explained; tracking CRISPR and more

Benefits of diets for autism features remain unproven, variants of the same DNA region make brains big or small, and STAT announces a new CRISPR tracker.

By Emily Willingham
8 June 2018 | 4 min read

‘Syntax’ of mouse behavior may speak volumes about autism

An algorithm that decodes and quantifies mouse body language could reveal the brain circuits underlying certain autism features.

By Hannah Furfaro
21 March 2018 | 6 min read
Genes may partly account for difficulties in processing biological motion.

Movement perception, autism traits may share genetic roots

The ability to identify human-like movements is rooted in genetics — and may share those origins with autism traits.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
19 February 2018 | 5 min read

Prenatal microbiome; standing by stereotypes; Common Rule delay and more

Microbiologists debate the existence of bacteria in the womb, yet another movie relies on stereotypes to portray a person with autism, and the U.S. federal government delays implementation of the Common Rule for clinical research.

By Emily Willingham
2 February 2018 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Astrocyte networks span large swaths of brain

The networks are plastic, connect brain regions that aren’t connected by neurons and may enable long-distance communication between astrocytes, a new preprint shows.

By Calli McMurray
3 September 2025 | 5 min listen
Research image of auditory processing in people with Phelan-McDermid syndrome.

New findings on Phelan-McDermid syndrome; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 1 September.

By Jill Adams
2 September 2025 | 2 min read
Computer-generated illustration.

From bench to bot: Why AI-powered writing may not deliver on its promise

Efficiency isn’t everything. The cognitive work of struggling with prose may be a crucial part of what drives scientific progress.

By Tim Requarth
2 September 2025 | 8 min listen

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