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Summary: Autism Spectrum Disorder, commonly known as Autism, is one of the most common neurological disorders found in people, especially children worldwide. This article talks about this disorder and research directions in the field of Autism.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common developmental disorder related to brain development. A developmental disorder is a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. The word "spectrum" here refers to a wide range of symptoms or severity. A range of conditions previously known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Asperger's Syndrome now come under the common umbrella of autism spectrum disorders.
Autism is characterized by early-appearing social communication deficits and restricted, repetitive sensory-motor behaviors in an individual. It is a very common disorder affecting about 1 in 100 children worldwide. ASD begins in early childhood, with children generally showing symptoms of Autism within the first year. Common symptoms are delayed speech, over or under sensitivity to external stimuli such as light or temperature, repetitive patterns of behavior and movements, and difficulty in communication and social interactions.
There is strong evidence to support that the "autistic brain" is functionally and structurally different from the brain of typically developing children. Moreover, there is a wide range of phenotypic variations involving cognitive ability, the pace of language development, and the co-morbidity of other diagnoses like epilepsy or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders in individuals with ASD. One of the most common features of children with ASD across the spectrum is the atypical behavioral responses to sensory stimuli.
Literature showed that over 96% of children with ASD report hyper and hypo-sensitivities in multiple domains, including the vestibular, somatosensory, visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory systems. Atypical sensory processing can interfere with the child's development and affect the interactions with the environment. This eventually causes problems functioning in society and social interactions at school, home, or work, leading to social isolation and the inability to live independently. However, the neurobiology of sensory processing in Autism is less addressed in the literature. Treatment and therapies can help, but there is no cure for this disorder.
Autism is mostly genetic, more common in families having autistic children previously, but there is no single gene that can specifically be tested for risk of Autism. Brain scans of ASD people show a range of differences compared to normal brain scans, but none of these differences are enough to diagnose a child with ASD. There are still so many gaps to fill in our knowledge of Autism. Much work is still needed to understand how and when behavioral and medical treatments can be effective. It is also important to implement what we already know and develop services for adults and children with autism spectrum disorder so they can live an independent, happy, and fulfilled life.
References
Autism spectrum disorder - symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. (2022). Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352928.
Autism. Who.int. (2022). Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders.
Lord, C., Elsabbagh, M., Baird, G., & Veenstra-Vanderweele, J. (2018). Autism spectrum disorder. The Lancet, 392(10146), 508-520. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31129-2
About the Author
Author: Sanyami Jain
About the author: Sanyami is a recent graduate from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University majoring in botany and Zoology and chemistry as minors. Her research interests lie in Cancer biology, Immunology, and Metagenomics. She is fascinated by the molecular mechanisms of cancer cells and how the exact mechanisms can be used to treat cancer. Sanyami is extremely passionate about having a career as a researcher. She aims to pursue higher studies in the domain of cancer biology. She aspires to become a cancer biologist and have her research laboratory someday.
Editor: Himanshi Yadav
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