EJN call for papers – “The Neurobiological Bases of Autism Spectrum Disorders”

The Neurobiological Bases of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Editors:  Sophie Molholm (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA), Stephane Baudouin (Cardiff University, Wales), Mark T. Wallace (Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, USA), John J. Foxe (University of Rochester, New York, USA).

With better diagnostic methods and expanded diagnostic criteria, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are much more widely recognized than they used to be, and with this increased awareness has come the realization that prevalence rates are alarmingly high. Most recent estimates place the incidence of ASD in the region of 1 in 68 children. In concert with this increased awareness of ASD prevalence, there has been an explosion of research aimed at detailing the underlying neuropathologies that give rise to ASD. Theories of Autism run the gamut, from deficits in long-range inter-regional neural connectivity to local hyper-connectivity, from synaptic pathophysiology to inhibition/excitation imbalances, and so on. At the systems level, there are hemispheric laterality accounts, global versus local processing accounts, sensory integration models, so-called central coherence accounts, among many others. A number of risk genes and causal mutations have also been discovered over the past decade, providing clues to the molecular biological pathways to ASD, and hints as to possible synaptic mechanisms and regional connectivity issues. Despite the huge increase in research interest and the rapid rise in publications reporting work in this syndrome, the field is still in its relative infancy and there is no consensus as yet as to causal neuropathological pathways that give rise to the cardinal symptoms of the ASDs.

This special issue seeks to bring together a series of empirical papers, targeted reviews and opinion pieces that will lay out the latest understanding of the neurobiology of ASD, spanning cellular and molecular work in animal models, to systems approaches in human patients. It will consider current pharmacological and behavioral therapeutic approaches and their implications for brain organization in ASD.

Interested authors should submit their manuscripts through our ScholarOne Manuscripts site by 22 December 2016.

Any queries regarding the Special Issue should be directed to the EJN Editorial Office at editorial.office@ejneurosci.org