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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2006;295:19-20.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Washington, DC—Advanced imaging technologies and techniques that allow scientists to efficiently comb through the genome for rare gene variants are helping researchers better understand autism and identify its genetic basis, according to new research findings.

Many scientists believe that autism, a disorder defined by a spectrum of social, behavioral, and cognitive deficits, is the result of abnormal brain development caused in part by genes. But identifying the precise genetic and physiological basis of the disorder has proved difficult.

Using an automated system to track eye movements, scientists discovered that autistic individuals and their nonautistic siblings appear to spend less time looking at a person's eyes than do control subjects. (Photo credit: Kim M. Dalton, PhD and Richard J. Davidson, PhD/University of Wisconsin)

Two studies presented here at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in November identified structural abnormalities in certain regions of the brain . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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