Diagnostic imaging

Recent articles

Photograph of the BRIDGE team and students visiting a laboratory.

Sharing Africa’s brain data: Q&A with Amadi Ihunwo

These data are “virtually mandatory” to advance neuroscience, says Ihunwo, a co-investigator of the Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE) initiative, which seeks to develop a global framework for sharing, using and protecting neuroscience data.

By Lauren Schenkman
20 May 2025 | 6 min read
Sunlit portrait photograph of Christine Wu Nordahl.

Christine Wu Nordahl, doing whatever it takes to get good data

The head of the Autism Phenome Project has deepened the pool of study participants and helped overhaul the culture of the MIND Institute.

By Laura Dattaro
23 November 2023 | 13 min read
A grid of four brain scans showing excess cerebrospinal fluid.

Is excess brain fluid an early marker of autism?

Brain scans of hundreds of infants suggest that up to 80 percent of those with autism have unusual amounts of cerebrospinal fluid. Researchers are studying how this might contribute to the condition.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
17 August 2023 | 10 min read
A cross-section of the human brain and limbic system

Amygdala-linked brain areas grow differently in autism

The growth differences vary between autistic boys and girls and are most apparent among children with prominent social difficulties.

By Charles Q. Choi
13 July 2022 | 5 min read
overlapping network of connections in the brain

The connectivity theory of autism, explained

A growing body of evidence suggests that autism involves atypical communication between brain regions, but how and where in the brain this plays out is unclear.

By Rachel Zamzow
1 May 2019 | 4 min read

Abridged autism assessment speeds access to therapy

A new strategy for diagnosing autism shortens the evaluation process — and the wait for answers.

By Jennifer Gerdts
5 June 2018 | 6 min read

Late-life diagnosis; narrated brain stimulation; microglia movie and more

Women describe relief at finally learning they have autism, a man with epilepsy narrates during stimulation of his brain, and the brain’s immune cells are caught on film nibbling at neuronal connections.

By Emily Willingham
30 March 2018 | 5 min read

Activists arrested; poop cult; ‘landmark’ movie and more

Activists are arrested while protesting the use of electroshock devices, a Facebook group claims cabbage slurry can prevent autism, and a movie features romance — and actors — on the spectrum.

By Emily Willingham
23 March 2018 | 5 min read

Program in Scotland boosts speed, accuracy of autism diagnosis

A project in Scotland dramatically increased the accuracy of autism diagnosis and cut waiting times in half.

By Anne O’Hare
20 February 2018 | 5 min read
Magnetoencephalography picks up the tiny magnetic fields produced by neuronal activity.

Powerful duo of techniques charts signals’ path through brain

Combining a brain imaging technique with a neuron stimulation method can reveal how activity at one site travels through neural networks in the brain.

By Bahar Gholipour
13 November 2017 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of neurite overgrowth in cells grown from people with autism-linked PPP2R5D variants.

Cortical structures in infants linked to future language skills; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 19 May.

By Jill Adams
20 May 2025 | 2 min read
Digitally distorted building blocks.

The BabyLM Challenge: In search of more efficient learning algorithms, researchers look to infants

A competition that trains language models on relatively small datasets of words, closer in size to what a child hears up to age 13, seeks solutions to some of the major challenges of today’s large language models.

By Alona Fyshe
19 May 2025 | 7 min read
Research image showing resting-state functional connectivity in the human red nucleus.

‘Ancient’ brainstem structure evolved beyond basic motor control

The human red nucleus may also help coordinate action, reward and motivated behavior, a new study suggests.

By Sydney Wyatt
16 May 2025 | 5 min read