CHRNA4 and autism: Reduced expression of cholinergic receptors has been reported in post-mortem brain tissues of people with autism (Perry et al., 2001; Martin-Ruiz et al., 2004; Ray et al., 2005) and was especially strong for α4 and β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits in the “nonspecific” thalamic nuclei (Anand et al., 2011).