Abstract
An ever-increasing body of literature describes compelling evidence that a subset of young children on the autism spectrum show abnormal cerebral growth trajectories. In these cases, normal cerebral size at birth is followed by a period of abnormal growth and starting in late childhood often by regression compared to unaffected controls. Recent work has demonstrated an abnormal increase in the number of neurons of the prefrontal cortex suggesting that cerebral size increase in autism is driven by excess neuronal production. In addition, some affected children display patches of abnormal laminar positioning of cortical projection neurons. As both cortical projection neuron numbers and their correct layering within the developing cortex requires the undisturbed proliferation of neural progenitors, it appears that neural progenitors lie in the center of the autism pathology associated with early brain overgrowth. Consequently, autism spectrum disorders associated with cerebral enlargement should be viewed as birth defects of an early embryonic origin with profound implications for their early diagnosis, preventive strategies, and therapeutic intervention.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 12 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Chemistry |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | MAR |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2016 |
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Keywords
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Cerebral cortex
- Megalencephaly
- Neural progenitors
- Neuronal migration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
Cite this
Prenatal neurogenesis in autism spectrum disorders. / Kaushik, Gaurav; Zarbalis, Konstantinos.
In: Frontiers in Chemistry, Vol. 4, No. MAR, 12, 2016.Research output: Contribution to journal › Short survey
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Prenatal neurogenesis in autism spectrum disorders
AU - Kaushik, Gaurav
AU - Zarbalis, Konstantinos
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - An ever-increasing body of literature describes compelling evidence that a subset of young children on the autism spectrum show abnormal cerebral growth trajectories. In these cases, normal cerebral size at birth is followed by a period of abnormal growth and starting in late childhood often by regression compared to unaffected controls. Recent work has demonstrated an abnormal increase in the number of neurons of the prefrontal cortex suggesting that cerebral size increase in autism is driven by excess neuronal production. In addition, some affected children display patches of abnormal laminar positioning of cortical projection neurons. As both cortical projection neuron numbers and their correct layering within the developing cortex requires the undisturbed proliferation of neural progenitors, it appears that neural progenitors lie in the center of the autism pathology associated with early brain overgrowth. Consequently, autism spectrum disorders associated with cerebral enlargement should be viewed as birth defects of an early embryonic origin with profound implications for their early diagnosis, preventive strategies, and therapeutic intervention.
AB - An ever-increasing body of literature describes compelling evidence that a subset of young children on the autism spectrum show abnormal cerebral growth trajectories. In these cases, normal cerebral size at birth is followed by a period of abnormal growth and starting in late childhood often by regression compared to unaffected controls. Recent work has demonstrated an abnormal increase in the number of neurons of the prefrontal cortex suggesting that cerebral size increase in autism is driven by excess neuronal production. In addition, some affected children display patches of abnormal laminar positioning of cortical projection neurons. As both cortical projection neuron numbers and their correct layering within the developing cortex requires the undisturbed proliferation of neural progenitors, it appears that neural progenitors lie in the center of the autism pathology associated with early brain overgrowth. Consequently, autism spectrum disorders associated with cerebral enlargement should be viewed as birth defects of an early embryonic origin with profound implications for their early diagnosis, preventive strategies, and therapeutic intervention.
KW - Autism spectrum disorders
KW - Cerebral cortex
KW - Megalencephaly
KW - Neural progenitors
KW - Neuronal migration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969540886&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84969540886&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fchem.2016.00012
DO - 10.3389/fchem.2016.00012
M3 - Short survey
AN - SCOPUS:84969540886
VL - 4
JO - Frontiers in Chemistry
JF - Frontiers in Chemistry
SN - 2296-2646
IS - MAR
M1 - 12
ER -