Differences in the default mode network are among the most replicated brain-level findings in autistic individuals. Furthermore, subregions within the default mode network are associated with cognitive functions such as mentalising that are immediately relevant to cognitive theories of autism. Recent evidence suggests that the default mode network…

During the last 40 years, neuroscience has become one of the most central and most productive approaches to investigating autism. In this commentary, we assemble a group of established investigators and trainees to review key advances and anticipated developments in neuroscience research across five modalities most commonly employed in autism…

Previous studies indicate that autobiographical memory is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Successful recollection of information referring to one's own person requires the intact ability to re-activate representation of the past self. In the current fMRI study we investigated process of conscious reflection on the…

The mirror neuron system has been argued to be a key brain system responsible for action understanding and imitation. Subsequently, mirror neuron system dysfunction has therefore been proposed to explain the social deficits manifested within autism spectrum condition, an approach referred to as the broken mirror hypothesis. Despite excitement…

Prior work has revealed sex/gender-dependent autistic characteristics across behavioural and neural/biological domains. It remains unclear whether and how neural sex/gender differences are related to behavioural sex/gender differences in autism. Here, we examined whether atypical neural responses during mentalizing and self-representation are…

Few projects have combined quantitative and qualitative approaches in the analysis of facilitated communication as did this study of a 17-year-old nonverbal autistic male responding to homework questions using facilitated communication. Findings were consistent with prior studies: Tim was minimally able to produce correct responses independent of…

Examination of resting state brain activity using electrophysiological measures like complexity as well as functional connectivity is of growing interest in the study of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The present paper jointly examined complexity and connectivity to obtain a more detailed characterization of resting state brain activity in ASD.…

The EEG coherence among 14 scalp points during intermittent photic stimulation at 11 fixed frequencies of 3-24 Hz was studied in 14 boys with autism, aged 6-14 years, with relatively intact verbal and intellectual functions, and 19 normally developing boys. The number of interhemispheric coherent connections pertaining to the 20 highest…

Abnormal brain oscillatory activity has been found in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and proposed as a potential biomarker. While several studies have investigated gamma oscillations in ASD, none have examined resting gamma power across multiple brain regions. This study investigated resting gamma power using EEG in 15 boys with ASD and 18 age…

Little is known about the functional impact of putative deficits in white-matter connectivity across the corpus callosum (CC) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We utilized the temporal sensitivity of event-related potentials to examine the interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of basic visual information across the CC in youth…

The duplication of the Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) region (7q11.23) is a copy number variant associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of the most intriguing aspects is that the reciprocal microdeletion causes WBS, characterized by hypersociability, marked empathy, and a relative capacity in verbal short-term memory and language.…

Face processing has been studied and discussed in depth during previous decades in several branches of science, and evidence from research supports the view that this process is a highly specialized brain function. Several authors argue that difficulties in the use and comprehension of the information conveyed by human faces could represent a core…

Anatomical and functional brain studies have converged to the hypothesis that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with atypical connectivity. Using a modified resting-state paradigm to drive subjects' attention, we provide evidence of a very marked interaction between ASD brain functional connectivity and cognitive state. We show that…

Prenatal multivitamin/folic acid supplement use may reduce the risk of autism spectrum disorders. We investigated whether 2nd trimester prenatal vitamin use and maternal whole blood folate (WBF) concentrations were associated with Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) scores at 4-5 years of age in a prospective cohort of 209 mother-child pairs. After…

Previous behavioral studies have shown that individuals with autism are less hindered by interference from global processing during the performance of lower-level perceptual tasks, such as finding embedded figures. The primary goal of this study was to examine the brain manifestation of such atypicality in high-functioning autism using fMRI.…