A recent discovery of a molecular connection between autism and myotonic dystrophy, a type of neuromuscular disease, may provide a breakthrough on how clinicians approach autism spectrum disorder.

The new study by an interdisciplinary team of biomedical scientists, published in Nature Neuroscience, used myotonic dystrophy as a tool or model to learn more about autism – effectively using one disorder to better understand the other.

“We identified a new pathway that can lead to autism,” said the research lead. “We found that a genetic mutation in a certain gene can disrupt the expression of multiple autism-related genes during brain development, causing autism.”