Children with autism exhibit more pronounced symptoms of both problem behaviors and motor coordination difficulties. Yoga, recognized as an effective intervention modality, can be valuable after assessing its efficacy in addressing problem behaviors and motor coordination challenges, ultimately contributing to symptom alleviation in autism. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) was used to divide 17 children with autism into an intervention group (n = 9) and a control group (n = 8). The intervention group participated in an 8-week yoga intervention training (three sessions/week, 45–50 min/session), and the control group did not participate in yoga training but only in daily program activities. Pre-test, mid-test, post-test, and after delayed test, teachers assessed the effect of yoga intervention on problem behaviors of children with autism through the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the effect of yoga intervention on motor coordination through the Movement Assessment Battery for Children—Second Edition (MABC2). Results show that the yoga intervention is effective in reducing problem behaviors and improving motor coordination in children with autism. Yoga intervention significantly reduces irritability and social withdrawal in children with autism. Yoga intervention had the most significant improvement in ball skills and static and dynamic balance.

Maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy has been increasingly recognized as a critical factor in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders, with potential sex-specific impacts that are not yet fully understood. In this study, we utilized a murine model to explore the behavioral and molecular consequences of MIA induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration on embryonic day 12.5. Our findings indicate that male offspring exposed to LPS exhibited significant increases in anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors, while female offspring did not show comparable changes. Molecular analyses revealed alterations in pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and synaptic gene expression in male offspring, suggesting that these molecular disruptions may underlie the observed behavioral differences. These results emphasize the importance of considering sex as a biological variable in studies of neurodevelopmental disorders and highlight the need for further molecular investigations to understand the mechanisms driving these sex-specific outcomes. Our study contributes to the growing evidence that prenatal immune challenges play a pivotal role in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders and underscores the potential for sex-specific preventative approaches of MIA.