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Illustration of X and Y chromosomes against a psychedelic, checkered pattern.

Accounting for a mosaic of sex differences: Q&A with Nicola Grissom

Breaking the binary view of sex traits can enable researchers to represent the broader complexity of behavior and cognition.

By Olivia Gieger
10 July 2024 | 7 min read
3D image of a child's face with coordinates to measure distances between features.

Siblings of autistic children may have distinct facial features

Siblings of autistic children, like those with the condition, tend to have faces that are more masculine than average.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
27 January 2020 | 4 min read
Illustration of a strong man holding up a oversized brain

The extreme male brain, explained

The ‘extreme male brain’ theory suggests that autism is an exaggeration of systematic sex differences in ways of thinking.

By Hannah Furfaro
1 May 2019 | 5 min read

Predictive brain waves; spotting liars; pet peeve and more

Brain waves in infancy forecast autism, people with more autism features have trouble detecting lies, and veterinarians battle claims that vaccines cause autism in dogs.

By Emily Willingham
4 May 2018 | 4 min read
two men hiking and embracing with dog in backpack

Some adults with autism traits reject conventional sexual labels

Adults who have characteristics of autism are about three times as likely as their peers to not identify as heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.

By Emily Anthes
7 December 2017 | 4 min read

Boyish looks; popular pseudoscience; older fathers and more

Masculinized features help define children with autism, online autism-parent forums spread pseudoscience, and the United States has more older fathers than ever.

By Emily Willingham
1 September 2017 | 5 min read

Testosterone test; enhancement stance; retirement pan

A new study casts doubt on the ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism, Americans are worried about gene editing, and a Pasteur Institute clash raises questions about scientists’ age.

By Katie Moisse
5 August 2016 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Hormonal imbalance during pregnancy tied to autism risk

Having polycystic ovary syndrome raises the risk of having a child with autism by nearly 60 percent.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
22 January 2016 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Hormone levels during pregnancy tied to autism risk

An analysis of prenatal screening test results fuels the theory that abnormal levels of steroid hormones in the womb wire the developing brain for autism.

By Ann Griswold
20 November 2015 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Linking autism, sex, gender and prenatal hormones

Elevated levels of fetal sex steroid hormones such as testosterone may explain many of autism’s unique features.

By Simon Baron-Cohen
19 October 2015 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Clockwise: lab mouse, zebrafish, octopus, rat pushing a cube, nematodes, fruit fly.

The term ‘model organism’ should be reserved for biological systems

By referring to artificial neural networks as model organisms, we run the risk of distorting funding priorities and disregard the explanatory power of a shared evolutionary history across biological organisms.

By Marc Coutanche
13 November 2026 | 6 min read

New phase of BRAIN Initiative spawns basal ganglia ‘parts list’

With a standardized cell naming system and infrastructure for data collection and analysis, the basal ganglia project sets the stage for a whole-brain primate atlas.

By Claudia López Lloreda
12 November 2026 | 1 min watch
Research image showing genes containing microexons in mice.

Machine-learning model spots autism-linked variants that scramble splicing

The model provides a way to investigate genetic variation in regions of the genome whose functions have been difficult to interpret.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
12 November 2026 | 4 min read