Researchers have discovered that children who have been diagnosed with autism have more gray matter in the part of the brain that is used for social processing and learning by watching other people that do not have autism. This would explain the reason why autistic children have problems with associating themselves with other people.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) is dedicated to finding new treatments for autism and finding the causes of it. They have recently opened a new program that they are hoping will help bring to them the results they are looking for.
The Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program represents a consolidation of two existing programs, the Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART) and Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism (CPEA) programs into a single research effort.