Brain overgrowth in autism during a critical time in development: implications for frontal pyramidal neuron and interneuron development and connectivity

Abstract

While abnormalities in head circumference in autism have been observed for decades, it is only recently that scientists have begun to focus in on the developmental origins of such a phenomenon. In this article we review past and present literature on abnormalities in head circumference, as well as recent developmental MRI studies of brain growth in this disorder. We hypothesize that brain growth abnormalities are greatest in frontal lobes, particularly affecting large neurons such as pyramidal cells, and speculate how this abnormality might affect neurofunctional circuitry in autism. The relationship to clinical characteristics and other disorders of macrencephaly are discussed.