Neurodevelopmental Factors of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Etiology to Therapy
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 51
Special Issue Editor
Interests: visual system; neuroeconomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by alterations in brain structure, genetic susceptibility, and environmental interactions.
Developmental Factors: ASD involves atypical brain growth patterns, including reduced head size at birth, followed by accelerated growth in infancy (1–6 months) and abnormal overgrowth in frontal, cerebellar, and limbic regions between 2 and 4 years. These regions govern social, communicative, and motor functions, with altered neural circuitry contributing to core behavioral phenotypes. Embryonic brain overgrowth correlates with ASD severity, while disrupted cortical organization and white matter connectivity impair information integration.
Genetic Contributions: ASD exhibits strong heritability (60–92% monozygotic twin concordance) and polygenic complexity. With hundreds of genes putatively related to ASD, in all but a minority of monogenic ASD cases, differing variants of ASD may present differently in terms of genetics.
Environmental Influences: Non-genetic factors modify ASD risk, particularly during prenatal development. Such factors include toxic exposures from air pollution, pesticides, and microplastics. Maternal health factors such as diabetes, obesity, infections, pre-eclampsia, and mis/malnutrition also play key roles, and may interact with genetic susceptibilities to disrupt neurodevelopment.
Establishing effective clinical therapies involves elucidating gene–environment interactions and developing therapies that mitigate the developmental risk, as well as therapies that address core symptoms and transition needs across the lifespan.
This Special Issue synthesizes key findings across developmental, genetic, environmental, and therapeutic domains with the aim of providing a comprehensive understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder, from etiology to therapy.
Dr. George Ayoub
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder
- developmental factors
- genetic contributions
- environmental influences
- gene–environment interactions
- developing therapies
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