In: Psychology
what are the main findings on the genetics of autism
Autism is a genetic disorder in which disability at intellectual level becomes prominent. Fragile X syndrome is the condition responsible for causation of autism. Abnormalities in brain structure is also responsible for this.
Size of cerebellum becomes reduced in autism. Volume of hippocampus also becomes less in autism. Amygdala also show a trend of smaller volume in autism. All these conditions arises due to mutations in more than one gene.
When genes got mutated then production of faulty proteins starts taking place. These proteins with altered structures also affect the neuronal development with a negative effect. In these mutations, a part of gene may get deleted.
This causes improper generation of protein sequences which affect the neural development in negative manner. There is also a possibility that certain part of genes may get duplicated. This also produces faulty genes. Inversions in genes have also been thought responsible for causing autism in an individual.