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Defining the broader phenotype of autism: genetic, brain, and behavioral perspectives.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Dawson, G; Webb, S; Schellenberg, GD; Dager, S; Friedman, S; Aylward, E; Richards, T
Published in: Dev Psychopathol
2002

Achieving progress in understanding the cause, nature, and treatment of autism requires an integration of concepts, approaches, and empirical findings from genetic, cognitive neuroscience, animal, and clinical studies. The need for such integration has been a fundamental tenet of the discipline of developmental psychopathology from its inception. It is likely that the discovery of autism susceptibility genes will depend on the development of dimensional measures of broader phenotype autism traits. It is argued that knowledge of the cognitive neuroscience of social and language behavior will provide a useful framework for defining such measures. In this article, the current state of knowledge of the cognitive neuroscience of social and language impairments in autism is reviewed. Following from this, six candidate broader phenotype autism traits are proposed: (a) face processing, including structural encoding of facial features and face movements, such as eye gaze; (b) social affiliation or sensitivity to social reward, pertaining to the social motivational impairments found in autism; (c) motor imitation ability, particularly imitation of body actions; (d) memory, specifically those aspects of memory mediated by the medial temporal lobe-prefrontal circuits; (e) executive function, especially planning and flexibility; and (f) Language ability, particularly those aspects of language that overlap with specific language impairment, namely, phonological processing.

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Published In

Dev Psychopathol

DOI

ISSN

0954-5794

Publication Date

2002

Volume

14

Issue

3

Start / End Page

581 / 611

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Twin Studies as Topic
  • Temporal Lobe
  • Speech Perception
  • Phonetics
  • Phenotype
  • Perceptual Disorders
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Language Disorders
  • Humans
  • Evoked Potentials
 

Citation

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Dawson, G., Webb, S., Schellenberg, G. D., Dager, S., Friedman, S., Aylward, E., & Richards, T. (2002). Defining the broader phenotype of autism: genetic, brain, and behavioral perspectives. Dev Psychopathol, 14(3), 581–611. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579402003103
Dawson, Geraldine, Sara Webb, Gerard D. Schellenberg, Stephen Dager, Seth Friedman, Elizabeth Aylward, and Todd Richards. “Defining the broader phenotype of autism: genetic, brain, and behavioral perspectives.Dev Psychopathol 14, no. 3 (2002): 581–611. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579402003103.
Dawson G, Webb S, Schellenberg GD, Dager S, Friedman S, Aylward E, et al. Defining the broader phenotype of autism: genetic, brain, and behavioral perspectives. Dev Psychopathol. 2002;14(3):581–611.
Dawson, Geraldine, et al. “Defining the broader phenotype of autism: genetic, brain, and behavioral perspectives.Dev Psychopathol, vol. 14, no. 3, 2002, pp. 581–611. Pubmed, doi:10.1017/s0954579402003103.
Dawson G, Webb S, Schellenberg GD, Dager S, Friedman S, Aylward E, Richards T. Defining the broader phenotype of autism: genetic, brain, and behavioral perspectives. Dev Psychopathol. 2002;14(3):581–611.
Journal cover image

Published In

Dev Psychopathol

DOI

ISSN

0954-5794

Publication Date

2002

Volume

14

Issue

3

Start / End Page

581 / 611

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Twin Studies as Topic
  • Temporal Lobe
  • Speech Perception
  • Phonetics
  • Phenotype
  • Perceptual Disorders
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Language Disorders
  • Humans
  • Evoked Potentials