The rising importance of the periphery for regulating centrally mediated socialbehaviors.

Abstract

Deficits in social behaviors, including delayed onset and decreased intensity in play, and classification by peers as less socially desirable are observed in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, early-onset schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder [1-5], social withdrawal is observed in people diagnosed with major depression [6] and persons diagnosed with personality disorder display abnormalities in social cognition [7]. Despite the neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders and the central mediation of social behaviors, several recent studies suggest that some of the deficits in social behaviors that are observed in animal models of psychiatric illness may begin outside of the brain and involve altered communication between peripheral and central systems.