Autism
Current Theories and Evidence
Samenvatting
Creative thinking and collaborative scientific research have advanced our understanding of autism, and we are now beginning to synthesize the data into evidence and theories. Autism: Current Theories and Evidence presents current theories about autism and the evidence that supports them. The goal is to show how the scientific method is revealing the biological bases of this spectrum of disorders, thereby leading the way to their treatment and prevention using evidence-based medicine. This book has 20 chapters divided into 6 sections: Molecular and Clinical Genetics; Neurotransmitters and Cell Signaling; Endocrinology, Growth and Metabolism; Immunology, Maternal-Fetal Effects and Neuroinflammation; Neuroanatomy, Imaging and Neural networks; and Environmental Mechanisms and Models. The subjects cover a wide range of current scientific work in the field of autism, with strong and growing evidence to support them, and demonstrate both the breadth and depth of current autism research. The reader is encouraged to consider how theories and the scientific method, in the hands of these and other dedicated researchers, are leading to greater knowledge and continued progress in autism research.
Specificaties
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Preface
Moving Beyond Hypotheses: A Call for Theories and Evidence
Andrew W. Zimmerman
I. Molecular and Clinical Genetics
Chapter 1
ENGRAILED2 and Cerebellar Development in the Pathogenesis of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Ian T. Rossman and Emanuel DiCicco-Bloom
Chapter 2
Teratogenic Alleles in Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
William G. Johnson, Madhura Sreenath, Steven Buyske and Edward S. Stenroos
Chapter 3
Cholesterol Deficit in Autism: Insights from Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome
Alka Aneja and Elaine Tierney
Chapter 4
Autism in Genetic Intellectual Disability: Insight into the Bases and Features of Idiopathic Autism
Walter E. Kaufmann, George T. Capone, Megan Clarke and Dejan B. Budimirovic
II. Neurotransmitters and Cell Signaling
Chapter 5
Serotonin Dysfunction in Autism
Mary E. Blue, Michael V. Johnston, Carolyn Boylan Moloney and Christine F. Hohmann
Chapter 6
Excitotoxicity in Autism: The Role of Glutamate in Pathogenesis and Treatment
Martin Evers and Eric Hollander
Chapter 7
Prenatal Beta 2 Adrenergic Receptor Signaling and Autism: Dysmaturation and
Retained Fetal Function
Susan L. Connors
IV. Endocrinology, Growth and Metabolism
Chapter 8
A role for fetal testosterone in human sex differences: Implications for
Understanding autism
Bonnie Auyeung and Simon Baron-Cohen
Chapter 9
Interaction between Genetic Vulnerability and Neurosteroids in Purkinje cells as a Possible Neurobiological Mechanism in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Flavio Keller, Roger Panteri, Filippo Biamonte
Chapter 10
Insulin-like growth factors: Neurobiological regulators of brain growth in autism?
Raili Riikonen
Chapter 11
Oxidative Stress and the Metabolic Pathology of Autism
S. Jill James
V. Immunology, Maternal-Fetal Interaction and Neuroinflammation
Chapter 12
The Immune System in Autism: is there a Connection?
Luke Heuer, Paul Ashwood and Judy Van de Water
Chapter 13
Maternal Immune Activation, Cytokines and Autism
Paul H. Patterson, Wensi Xu, Stephen E. P. Smith and Benjamin E. Deverman
Chapter 14
Maternal Antibodies and the Placental-Fetal IgG Transfer Theory
Christina M. Morris, Mikhail Pletnikov, Andrew W. Zimmerman, and Harvey S. Singer
Chapter 15
Can Neuroinflammation Influence the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Carlos A. Pardo-Villamizar
VI. Neuroanatomy and Neural networks
Chapter 16
The Significance of Minicolumnar Size Variability in Autism: A Perspective from Comparative Anatomy
Manuel F. Casanova
Chapter 17
Imaging evidence for pathological brain development in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Stephen R Dager, Seth D Friedman, Helen Petropoulos and Dennis WW Shaw
Chapter 18
Information Processing, Neural Connectivity, and Neuronal Organization
Nancy J. Minshew, Diane L. Williams, a