Fig. 1: Age distributions and symptom changes among participants

a depicts the distribution of participants’ age at assessments and follow-up latency. The black color represents the typically developing control (TDC) group; the gray color denotes the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) group. b depicts changes in autism symptoms, as represented by total scores on Current Behavior Algorithms of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) over time. For the male participants, the blue color denotes an improvement (Imp) in symptoms; the red color indicates deteriorating (Det) symptoms over time; the green color represents unchanged (Unc) autistic severity between two assessments. The black color indicates female (Fem) participants