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Review
. 2022 Feb 2;82 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):33-36.

Frontiers in the research of autism pathogenesis

Ami Klin  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Frontiers in the research of autism pathogenesis

Ami Klin. Medicina (B Aires). .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

This review focuses on four interrelated teams and research lines that form the basis for new research on the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the Marcus Autism Center, in Atlanta (US). These themes probe typical social behavior and brain development from birth, and disruptions thereof in babies later diagnosed with ASD. These four themes are: to leverage lifetime maximal neuroplasticity; to test the hypothesis that developmental disruption of early-emerging mechanisms of socialization drives pathogenesis and results in autistic social disability; the focus on the infant-caregiver dyad, and the iterative context associated with mutually reinforcing and adapted social and communitive inter-action, or emerging cycles of social contingency, from the first days and weeks of life; and the study of time-varying neurodevelopmental transitions in social behavior from experience-expectant (reflexive, endogenous) and subcortically-guided to experience-dependent (caregiver- and reward-driven) and cortically-guided, a transition that our work suggests is uniquely disrupted in babies later diagnosed with ASD. This science is opening a world of opportunities to optimize children's outcomes despite the genetic liabilities that they are born with. It provides the scientific grounding for new community-viable solutions for increasing access to early interventions using treatments that scaffold and strengthen infant-caregiver interactions, which is the platform for early brain development.

Esta revisión se centra en cuatro equipos y líneas de investigación interrelacionados que forman la b ase de nuevas investigaciones sobre la patogenia del Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA) en el Marcus Autism Center, en Atlanta (EE.UU.). Estos temas investigan el comportamiento social típico y el desarrollo del cerebro desde el nacimiento, y las alteraciones del mismo en los bebés a los que luego se les diagnostica TEA. Estos cuatro temas son: aprovechar la neuroplasticidad máxima en la vida; probar la hipótesis de que la interrupción del desarrollo de los mecanismos de socialización emergentes impulsa la patogénesis y da como resultado una discapacidad social autista; el enfoque en la díada bebé-cuidador, y el contexto iterativo asoc iado con la mutua interacción de refuerzo social y comunitario, o ciclos emergentes de contingencia social, desde los primeros días y semanas de vida; y el estudio de las transiciones del comportamiento social variable en el tiempo del neurodesarrollo desde la experienciaexpectante (reflexiva, endógena) y guiada subcorticalmente, a la experiencia-dependiente (cuidador e impulsado por la recompensa) y guiada corticalmente, una transición que nuestro trabajo sugiere que se interrumpe únicamente en bebés diagnosticados posteriormente con TEA.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; neurodevelopment; neuroplasticity; pathogenesis; socialization.

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