Autistic Kids Have Altered Genes Controlling Brain Development

Autistic children have variations on genes that help neurons route themselves in the brain of a developing fetus... One of the gene variants occurs 20 percent more often in autistic children and may play a role in 12 percent to 18 percent of cases of autism... The altered DNA is found near a gene that is active in the development of the frontal cortex, a brain region necessary for language and judgment....