title: The prodrome of autism: early behavioral and biological signs, regression, peri- and post-natal development and genetics.
abstract: Autism is one of the most heritable neurodevelopmental conditions and has an early onset, with symptoms being required to be present in the first 3 years of life in order to meet criteria for the 'core' disorder in the classification systems. As such, the focus on identifying a prodrome over the past 20 years has been on pre-clinical signs or indicators that will be present very early in life, certainly in infancy. A number of novel lines of investigation have been used to this end, including retrospective coding of home videos, prospective population screening and 'high risk' sibling studies; as well as the investigation of pre- and peri-natal, brain developmental and other biological factors. While no single prodromal sign is expected to be present in all cases, a picture is emerging of indicative prodromal signs in infancy and initial studies are being undertaken to attempt to ameliorate early presentation and even 'prevent' emergence of the full syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel 91905. nyirmiya@gmail.com
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yirmiya
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Charman
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn