Autism may be the price of human intelligence | NYGazet

Researchers discovered that autism’s prevalence may be linked to human brain evolution. Specific neurons in the outer brain evolved rapidly, and autism-linked genes changed under natural selection. These shifts may have slowed brain development in children while boosting language and cognition. The findings suggest autism is part of the trade-off that made humans so cognitively advanced.

About one in 31 (3.2%) children in the United States has been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that around one in 100 children have autism. From an evolutionary perspective, many scientist be... [2752 chars]