Brain changes in autism are comprehensive throughout the cerebral cortex rather than specific areas thought to impact social behaviour and language, a new study has found.

According to the study, it represents a comprehensive effort to characterise autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the molecular level.

While neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease have well-defined pathologies or pathways, autism and other psychiatric disorders have had a lack of defining pathology, making it difficult to develop more effective treatments, it said.