|via Wikimedia Commons| Scientists use the Introduction of a
scientific paper to lay down their rationale for the work
they're doing. In the Introduction to this paper, the
researchers in this work first sought to link autism and immune
function. To do so, they cite two papers. One is a 2010 review
of existing literature that refers to autism as a "devastating
disease," apocalyptic terminology that does little good for
autistic people or their families. That 2010 review (full text
here) covers a great deal of ground, with abundant citations of
studies linking autism with altered levels of various molecules
associated with inflammation responses. What remains unclear is
whether these changes are causative in autism or the result of
the stress and anxiety that often accompany autism. The review
authors describe new "exciting" research findings showing that
immune molecules called antibodies from mothers of children with
autism appear to target the fetal brain, but these findings
apply to a "subset of mothers of