Revue internationale de psychologie scolaire et cognitive
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The Neural Basis of Autism: A Review

Karen E Waldie and Ashleigh Saunders

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition for which there is no known cause or cure. Autism is a highly variable disorder, the most prominent difficulties of which include aberrant behavior, poor social skills and disrupted communication skills. Evidence suggests that the prevalence of ASD is steadily rising and this has led to widespread speculation and research concerning the causes of the disorder. Following about 50 years of intensive study, researchers now believe that autism is a complex disorder whose core aspects have distinct causes that often co-occur. Some of these distinct neurological causes are the focus of this review. We focus on findings that suggest that children with ASD have larger overall brain volumes and differences in brain growth trajectory. By adulthood those with ASD have anatomical and functional abnormalities in prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, temporal lobe, and the limbic system. Impairments in these areas, as well as under-connectivity between and within these brain regions, can lead to range of interrelated deficits in interpersonal interaction such as problems remembering and identifying people, the inability to perceive social cues, and misunderstanding nonverbal communicative cues such as gestures, facial expressions, and emotional prosody. A mechanistic understanding of the underlying neurology of ASD is a prerequisite before new therapeutic tools can drive functionally atypical brains in corrective directions. Recent studies investigating the neural response to treatment in autism are briefly reviewed. These highlight the need to study the neural basis of and response to treatment in ASD.