Autisme en Neurobiologie: Wat We (Niet) Weten

Abstract

After decades of brain research on autism, the question is what insights this research has given into the neural mechanisms underlying autism symptomatology. At the group level, anatomical, chemical and functional differences have been reported, although these are often based on small samples. There are differences in the development and growth of certain brain areas, with stronger local and weaker global connections. Furthermore, the concentration of neurotransmitters such as GABA and serotonin is sometimes disbalanced in autism. Despite what was long thought, there are no clear differences in mirror neuronsystem activation during social tasks, but there are functional differences in other social brain areas, as well as in the cerebellum. Recently, the focus has been shifting to studying large-scale brain networks, a shift that generates new research lines and hypotheses, such as those related to the ‘predictive brain’. Research into autism and the brain is thus still strongly evolving.