neurodevelopment

Melbourne researchers have uncovered a critical signaling pathway that controls the timing of brain development, shedding new light on how neurodevelopmental disorders may develop.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are conventionally thought to be very distinct neurodevelopmental disorders, but many autistic individuals also exhibit symptoms of ADHD. Extensive research has focused on examining the behavioral profiles of autistic individuals with comorbid ADHD, but their neurobiological profiles remain understudied. The curren…

BackgroundIn this retrospective case series, the longitudinal trajectories of receptive language, expressive language, and vocabulary acquisition during auditory processing training (APT) were described for seven individuals with different neurodevelopmental characteristics. The study aims to highlight intra-case developmental patterns rather than to assess the intervention’s effectiveness.Method…

Nature Communications, Published online: 29 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77073-3 This study presents the development and aging principles of myelination in 214 brain regions using large-scale dataset spanning birth through 100 years. The results provide strong evidence for region-specific variability in multiscale brain development, with some areas exhibiting earlier maturation in myelinat…

BackgroundAtypical brain connectivity is considered a key neurobiological feature underlying the heterogeneous clinical manifestations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, findings on brain networks in ASD are inconsistent, likely owing to the effects of developmental factors. In addition, how large-scale brain networks in ASD differ across developmental stages remains unclear. We aimed to…

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 24 August.

Scientific Data, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-08095-1 A longitudinal data resource to study brain development and transdiagnostic variation in executive function

Understanding how brain folding works could help researchers better diagnose and treat neurodevelopmental disorders.

Using data from a massive long-term study, researchers found that 9-year-olds with ADHD have altered white matter microarchitecture. These early differences in nerve organization and cellular density offer new clues into the neurodevelopmental roots of the disorder.

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

At age 9, your brain is undergoing significant changes, but that is just the first of four major shifts in brain function.

Restoring an experience-dependent interneuron plasticity gene in adulthood improves memory and cuts seizures in CNTNAP2 knockout mice, a new study shows.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social interaction and the presence of repetitive, stereotyped behaviors, often accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms. The prevalence of ASD is on the rise, and the lack of specific pharmacological treatments places a significant burden on families and society. However, the discovery of the m…

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 11 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02400-2 Using cerebroids, a 3D ex vivo model of the human fetal brain, the authors show that IL-17A, a mediator of maternal immune activation linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, disrupts early human cortical development through NF-κB signaling.

Biological sex is increasingly recognized as a fundamental dimension of brain organization, yet how it influences early neurodevelopment, particularly autism spectrum disorder (ASD), remains understudied. Using data from the International Infant EEG Data Integration Platform (EEG-IP), a multi-site longitudinal cohort of 179 infants (91 males, 88 females) at elevated (ELA) and typical (TLA) likeli…

Check out the behind-the-scene story of the research exploring how neural circuits develop in stages during growth rather than all maturing at the same pace

Neural circuits develop in stages during growth rather than all maturing at the same pace, according to new research published in Neuroscience shows. The study, which uses an algorithm to build a picture of the development of neural communities, provides intriguing insights with potential implications for understanding brain development and learning. Researchers in China used a […] The post New a…

A University of Houston psychologist has received a $2.8 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to lead the first randomized clinical trial testing whether a remotely delivered parenting program can improve healthy infant brain development to support long-term mental health outcomes for babies born prematurely.

BackgroundWhile atypical brain development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been extensively characterized during childhood and adolescence, it remains unclear how these neurodevelopmental deviations persist into adulthood and affect brain aging. Existing studies relying on single morphometric measures have yielded inconsistent findings, underscoring the need for integrative, multiscale neur…