Epidemiology and early identification of autism: research challenges and opportunities (T. Charman).

Implications of the broader phenotype for concepts of autism (A. Bailey and J. Parr).

Strategies for autism candidate gene analysis (G. Barnby and A. Monaco).

How might genetic mechanism operate in autism? (S. Folstein, et al).

X-linked genes and the neural basis of social cognition (D. Skuse).

The neuropathology of the autism spectrum disorders: what have we learned? (M. Bauman and T. Kemper).

Microbiology and immunology of autism spectrum disorders (W. Lipkin and M. Hornig).

What do imaging studies tell us about the neural basis of autism? (C. Frith).

The Amygdala, autism and anxiety (D. Amaral and B. Corbett).

Cognition in autism: one deficit or many? (F. Happé).

Autism and specific language impairment: categorical distinction or continuum? (D. Bishop).

Why have drug treatments been so disappointing? (J. Buitelaar).

Can early interventions alter the course of autism? (P. Howlin).

Early intervention and brain plasticity in autism (G. Dawson and K. Zanolli).

Final discussion.

Summing up (M. Rutter).

Index of contributors.

Subject index.