Genetic Basis and Neural Mechanism of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a defective mental disease and its core impairments are social function defect, communication defect, restrictive and stereotyped behavior pattern. The paper introduces the genetic basis and neural mechanism of ASD. ASD has high genetic rate, and 5-HT and testosterone of ASD individual are both higher. Neuroimaging studies find that there are some differences between ASD and normal individuals in the structure and function of amygdala, cingulate gyrus, the fusiform gyrus, mirror neurons, prefrontal lobe and other brain areas, but it is inconsistent in the discrepancy direction of some areas' activation patterns. In addition, the results of functional connectivity studies also confirm the hypothesis that the ASD individuals are under-connection. Future research should focus more on how to use the basic research outcomes to put forward effective treatment and training for clinical research.