Extraits de l'article:
Autism genes may have been conserved during human evolution because they make us smarter, say scientists.
More inherited genetic variants linked to autism have been naturally selected than would be expected by chance, a study has shown.
The same variants were associated with traits linked to brain performance, such as molecular functions involved in the creation of new neurons.
Lead researcher Dr Renato Polimanti, from Yale School of Medicine in the US, said: “We found a strong positive signal that, along with autism spectrum disorder, these variants are also associated with intellectual achievement.”
(...) “The idea is that during evolution these variants that have positive effects on cognitive function were selected, but at a cost - in this case an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders."