New research from the University of Cambridge suggests that autism should not be understood as a homogeneous condition with a single cause. Scientists found that people diagnosed in early childhood often have a different genetic profile than those diagnosed later in life, broadening the understanding of how the condition develops.
The study analyzed the behavior of autistic people during childhood and adolescence in the United Kingdom and Australia. It also evaluated genetic data of more than 45,000 patients with the condition from diverse cohorts in Europe and the United States.
By linking genetic information to age at diagnosis, the researchers observed that the profiles of those identified early with the condition