Maternal risk factor for autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has previously been linked to maternal antibodies that have the potential to affect the vulnerable fetal brain. New evidence from researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (NY, USA) has successfully highlighted the relationship between one such antibody and structural brain changes and ASD behaviors in mice. The findings inidicate that ASD therapies based on the blocking of maternal antibodies may help to prevent the disorder in a subset of cases. The results were presented today at Neuroscience 2015 (17 - 21 October, Chicago, IL, USA). In the new study, which was lead by Lior...