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9.1 - Autism

from 9 - Integrated Neurobiology of Specific Syndromes and Treatments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

By
Meng-Chuan Lai  and
Simon Baron-Cohen
Edited by
Mary-Ellen Lynall ,
Peter B. Jones  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Mary-Ellen Lynall
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Peter B. Jones
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Stephen M. Stahl
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

Autism is a heterogeneous, behaviourally defined, neurodevelopmental condition characterised by early-emerging atypical social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviours and interests. The underlying neurocognitive underpinnings may include difficulties in social processing (particularly ‘mentalising’), executive functioning, as well as strengths in pattern recognition (attention to detail and rule-based reasoning or ‘systemising’). Each of these involves atypical brain connectivity. The underlying molecular neurobiology involves developmentally sensitive and spatiotemporally specific genetic and gene–environmental (e.g. neuroendocrine-immune) mechanisms, converging on neuronal synaptic functioning and transcriptional regulation prenatally, and their cascade effects on brain development, influenced by the autistic person’s interaction with the environmental contexts from early in life and across the lifespan. Future autism research needs to clarify the relations between the genes and the environmental factors and their relations to neurocognitive architectures, to identify factors associated with plasticity in developmental trajectories and to develop neurobiologically informed therapeutics and support strategies that are precisely tailored to respect individual differences.

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Chapter
Information
Cambridge Textbook of Neuroscience for Psychiatrists , pp. 389 - 396
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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