The cerebellum in Austim
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: Autism is considered as a neurodevelopmental disorder which affects boys more than girls, in a proportion 4:1\nrespectively. Autism presents neuroanatomical abnormalities located in the frontal cortex, the amygdala and the\ncerebellum. Autistic cerebellar postmortem studies have revealed a reduced number of Purkinje cells as well as a\nreduced Purkinje cell size when compared with non-autistic subjects. These anatomical alterations compromise the role\nof the cerebellum in cognitive, motor, emotional, learning and memory neural processes resulting in a different\ninterpretation of the world, and therefore a different way to respond and behave. There are both biological and\nenvironmental insults causing the behavioral and neuroanatomical autistic phenotype. Valproic acid, an antiepileptic drug,\nhas been related to some autistic cases after mothers were under medication with this drug during the first trimester of\ngestation and given birth autistic children. Therefore, in this brief review we analyzed the most recent advances of\nautism research in humans, with a primary focus on the use of valproic acid as a teratogen that mimics in rats some of\nthe neuroanatomical alterations seen in autistic humans. In addition to the peculiar cerebellar pathology, all of this to\nshed light on a better understating of this disorder.
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1968329465