Overview: Researchers at the University of California, San Diego reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association that children with autism have a greater number of neurons in an area of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex.

Background: The prefrontal cortex, which is thought to moderate social behavior among other cognitive tasks, is fully developed before birth. The researchers examined postmortem prefrontal brain tissue from 7 autistic and 6 control male children who were 2 to 16 years old.

What’s new: Children with autism have 67% more neurons in the prefrontal cortex as compared to the prefrontal cortex of control children.

Why it’s important: The researchers findings suggest that the biological underpinnings of at least some forms of autism may have their foundations in utero.

How Does the Brain Develop? How Does the Social Brain Develop?

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