Machines Like Us

A new project to study the brains of people with autism in unprecedented detail could finally pinpoint subtle neurological changes that underlie the disorder. Researchers will use an innovative set of tools developed to study gene expression to analyze exactly where early brain development goes awry.

"The technology now exists to be able to examine in fine detail the organization of brain cells--for example, whether brain cells have their proper number and position," says Eric Courchesne, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego, who is leading the project. "This could provide a major insight into the cause of autism."

Read full story at Technology Review.