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Neurodevelopmental disorder

About: Neurodevelopmental disorder is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2515 publications have been published within this topic receiving 94849 citations. The topic is also known as: neurodevelopmental disorders.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is indicated that innate neuroimmune reactions play a pathogenic role in an undefined proportion of autistic patients, suggesting that future therapies might involve modifying neuroglial responses in the brain.
Abstract: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired communication and social interaction and may be accompanied by mental retardation and epilepsy. Its cause remains unknown, despite evidence that genetic, environmental, and immunological factors may play a role in its pathogenesis. To investigate whether immune-mediated mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of autism, we used immunocytochemistry, cytokine protein arrays, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to study brain tissues and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from autistic patients and determined the magnitude of neuroglial and inflammatory reactions and their cytokine expression profiles. Brain tissues from cerebellum, midfrontal, and cingulate gyrus obtained at autopsy from 11 patients with autism were used for morphological studies. Fresh-frozen tissues available from seven patients and CSF from six living autistic patients were used for cytokine protein profiling. We demonstrate an active neuroinflammatory process in the cerebral cortex, white matter, and notably in cerebellum of autistic patients. Immunocytochemical studies showed marked activation of microglia and astroglia, and cytokine profiling indicated that macrophage chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 and tumor growth factor-beta1, derived from neuroglia, were the most prevalent cytokines in brain tissues. CSF showed a unique proinflammatory profile of cytokines, including a marked increase in MCP-1. Our findings indicate that innate neuroimmune reactions play a pathogenic role in an undefined proportion of autistic patients, suggesting that future therapies might involve modifying neuroglial responses in the brain.

1,845 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
25 Apr 2008-Science
TL;DR: The results suggest that multiple, individually rare mutations altering genes in neurodevelopmental pathways contribute to schizophrenia, and disrupted genes disproportionately from signaling networks controlling neurodevelopment, including neuregulin and glutamate pathways.
Abstract: Schizophrenia is a devastating neurodevelopmental disorder whose genetic influences remain elusive. We hypothesize that individually rare structural variants contribute to the illness. Microdeletions and microduplications >100 kilobases were identified by microarray comparative genomic hybridization of genomic DNA from 150 individuals with schizophrenia and 268 ancestry-matched controls. All variants were validated by high-resolution platforms. Novel deletions and duplications of genes were present in 5% of controls versus 15% of cases and 20% of young-onset cases, both highly significant differences. The association was independently replicated in patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia as compared with their parents. Mutations in cases disrupted genes disproportionately from signaling networks controlling neurodevelopment, including neuregulin and glutamate pathways. These results suggest that multiple, individually rare mutations altering genes in neurodevelopmental pathways contribute to schizophrenia.

1,762 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The overlapping delay before symptom onset in humans and mice raises the possibility that stability of brain function, not brain development per se, is compromised by the absence of MeCP2, and generates mice lacking Mecp2 using Cre-loxP technology.
Abstract: Rett syndrome (RTT) is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder of females that occurs once in 10,000-15,000 births. Affected females develop normally for 6-18 months, but then lose voluntary movements, including speech and hand skills. Most RTT patients are heterozygous for mutations in the X-linked gene MECP2 (refs. 3-12), encoding a protein that binds to methylated sites in genomic DNA and facilitates gene silencing. Previous work with Mecp2-null embryonic stem cells indicated that MeCP2 is essential for mouse embryogenesis. Here we generate mice lacking Mecp2 using Cre-loxP technology. Both Mecp2-null mice and mice in which Mecp2 was deleted in brain showed severe neurological symptoms at approximately six weeks of age. Compensation for absence of MeCP2 in other tissues by MeCP1 (refs. 19,20) was not apparent in genetic or biochemical tests. After several months, heterozygous female mice also showed behavioral symptoms. The overlapping delay before symptom onset in humans and mice, despite their profoundly different rates of development, raises the possibility that stability of brain function, not brain development per se, is compromised by the absence of MeCP2.

1,480 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that the heterogeneity of both the core and co-morbid features predicts a heterogeneous pattern of neuropathology in autism, and defined phenotypes in larger samples of children and well-characterized brain tissue will be necessary for clarification of the neuroanatomy of autism.

1,369 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A potential unifying model in which higher-order association areas of the brain that normally connect to the frontal lobe are partially disconnected during development can accommodate the specific neurobehavioral features observed in autism, their emergence during development, and the heterogeneity of autism etiology, behaviors and cognition.

1,325 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023184
2022381
2021376
2020275
2019221
2018183