title: Recent advances in understanding the neural bases of autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article reviews current work investigating the neural bases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within the discipline of electrophysiological brain research. The manuscript focuses primarily on advances in understanding related to social information processing and interconnectivity among brain systems in ASD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recent research indicates anomalous function of social brain regions in ASD and highlights the specificity of processing problems to these systems. Atypical activity in this circuitry may reflect genetic susceptibility for ASD, with increased activity in compensatory areas marking the distinction between developing and not developing the disorder. Advances in understanding connectivity in ASD are highlighted by novel work providing initial evidence of atypical interconnectivity in infancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Emerging understanding of neural dysfunction in ASD indicates consistent but heterogeneous dysfunction across brain systems in ASD. Key objectives for the immediate future include the use of multimethod approaches that encompass temporal and spatial imaging; behavioral phenotyping carried out in developmental context to reveal subgroups defined uniquely by trajectories; and individual-specific profiles of behavioral performance and brain function.
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. james.mcpartland@yale.edu
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McPartland
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coffman
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Pelphrey
mesh_terms: D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D003943:Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans