Genetic advances in autism: heterogeneity and convergence on shared pathways

Autism: recent molecular genetic advances.

Autism (MIM 209850) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder of unknown aetiology with profound consequences for patients and their families. Strong evidence from twin and family studies indicates the importance of genetic factors in the development of idiopathic autism, although it is clear that these influences are complex. This review focuses on recent molecular investigations to identify susce...

Common Genetic Etiologies and Biological Pathways Shared Between Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities

Heterogeneity and convergence: the synaptic pathophysiology of autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder characterised by a high heterogeneity of clinical diagnoses and genetic associations. This heterogeneity is a challenge for the identification of the pathophysiology of the disease and for the development of new therapeutic strategies. New conceptual approaches are being used to try to challenge this complexity and gene cluster analysis studies suggest that th...

Genetic Heterogeneity of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Although autism is considered to be one of the most highly heritable psychiatric disorders, molecular mechanisms underlying its pathogenesis remain largely unresolved. A strong genetic component underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been firmly established from various lines of studies ranging from whole genome scans to genetic association studies. Recent genomic advances have led to s...

Autism: Genetic Heritability and Shared Environmental Factors (AGP)

Context Autism is considered the most heritable of neurodevelopmental disorders, mainly because of the large difference in concordance rates between monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Objective To provide rigorous quantitative estimates of genetic heritability of autism and the effects of shared environment. Design, Setting, and Participants Twin pairs with at least 1 twin with an autism spectrum...