INSAR 2021

Recent articles

Woman talks to child in EEG cap

Brain’s response to faces foretells social development in autistic people

A delayed brain response to viewing faces may predict lags in social-skill development in autistic people.

By Laura Dattaro
17 August 2022 | 3 min read
Visual stimulus of 4 circles with black and white stripes.

Visual task flags autistic people who respond to GABA agonists

The investigational drug arbaclofen makes autistic people's brains respond to a visual task more like non-autistic people's brains do.

By Peter Hess
5 January 2022 | 3 min read

Autism-linked protein screen reveals hundreds of new interactions

Researchers have uncovered more than 1,200 new protein-protein interactions involving proteins coded for by autism-linked genes.

By Grace Huckins
14 May 2021 | 3 min read
Two women making eye contact while talking with each other.

Social attention shows sex difference in autism

Autistic boys and men are less attuned to social stimuli than autistic girls and women are, according to new unpublished work.

By Angie Voyles Askham
14 May 2021 | 3 min read
Neurons in red and green

‘Neurons on a chip’ reveal patterns across autism-linked conditions

Activity patterns of neuronal networks link different genetic subtypes of autism that have similar traits, according to new unpublished research.

By Angie Voyles Askham
7 May 2021 | 3 min read

Genes tied to autism, developmental delay, schizophrenia share functions

Many genes linked to autism, schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental delay regulate gene expression and support communication between neurons.

By Laura Dattaro
7 May 2021 | 3 min read

Fetal brain scans may forecast autism traits in toddlers

Children with highly folded and curved brains in utero tend to show autism-linked behaviors at 18 months of age, according to a longitudinal brain-imaging study.

By Grace Huckins
7 May 2021 | 3 min read
Child's hands playing on a white table with blue sand.

Methodological issues plague studies of early autism interventions

Multiple types of bias and an overreliance on caregiver reports have clouded research on the effectiveness of early interventions for autism for nearly three decades.

By Peter Hess
6 May 2021 | 3 min read
Baby in mother's lap watching her mouth move as she talks.

Infant siblings of autistic children miss language-learning clues

So-called ‘baby sibs’ watch adults’ faces just as much as children without autistic siblings do, but they don’t understand spoken language as well.

By Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
6 May 2021 | 3 min read
Computer screenshot showing bands of colour resulting from sequenced DNA.

Largest autism genetics analysis to date uncovers more high-confidence candidates

The largest-yet study of genetic data from autistic people has identified 255 genes associated with the condition.

By Laura Dattaro
6 May 2021 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Learning scientific rigor: Q&A with Konrad Kording and Hao Ye

The developers of a new open-access curriculum to teach rigor discuss confirmation bias and other common errors in scientific thinking, plus ways to avoid these missteps.

By Calli McMurray
19 March 2025 | 6 min read
Illustration of a woman sitting on a branch with a singing bird.

This paper changed my life: Stephanie Palmer on the ties between human speech and birdsong—and her ‘informal life coach’

A groundbreaking review by Allison Doupe, who was Palmer’s mentor, and Patricia Kuhl helped shape the field’s understanding of the neural and evolutionary dynamics of speech.

By Stephanie Palmer
18 March 2025 | 5 min read
Research image of mouse brains showing altered migration of upper-layer neurons.

Restoring excitation-inhibition balance in a mouse model of autism; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 17 March.

By Jill Adams
18 March 2025 | 2 min read