Autism Research: Lessons from the Past and Prospects for the Future

Abstract

The paper uses both the author's experience of research training, and the empirical studies of autism in which he participated over the last 40-plus years, to derive research lessons and to consider the needs and prospects for future research. Attention is drawn to: the importance of mentors; the need to use technologies in a hypothesis-testing fashion; the important of possible creative/innovative leaps and of recognition of the unexpected; the need to ask challenging questions and to recognize when the original ideas were mistaken. There is great value in broadening the scientific strategies used to investigate a particular condition and much is to be gained by deliberately seeking parallels with other conditions.

Replication of the Association between Copy Number Variation on 8p23.1 and Autism by Using ASD-specific BAC Array

“…The ASD-specific BAC array contains the two significant CNV regions identified in our previous study and also 25 putative ASD-associated regions reported by previous linkage studies (Cho et al, 2009;Klauck, 2006;Rutter, 2005;Schellenberg et al, 2006;Sultana et al, 2002;Vorstman et al, 2006). However, all 25 candidate regions suggested by linkage analyses were not replicated in our study population.…”

“…It has been widely accepted that ASD has a strong genetic background (Folstein and Rosen-Sheidley, 2001;Rutter, 2005;Veenstra-VanderWeele and Cook, 2004). Although genomic loci or genes reported to be associated with ASD were not easily replicated in subsequent studies for many reasons such as disease heterogeneity per se and relatively high noise levels of genomics technology used, some of the ASD-associated CNVs have been successfully replicated.…”

“…Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is neurodevelopmental syndrome with a broad spectrum of phenotypes including profound deficits in social relatedness and communication, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests (Rutter, 2005). There is accumulating evidence which suggests substantial genetic contribution to ASD development (Folstein and Rosen-Sheidley, 2001;VeenstraVanderWeele and Cook, 2004).…”

No Association between Copy Number Variation of the TCRB Gene and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Korean Population

“…Immunological dysfunction has been suggested to be associated with ASD (Folstein and Rosen-Sheidley, 2001;Rutter, 2005). Especially, T cell-mediated immunity has been considered important for the development of ASD (Cohly and Panja, 2005).…”

Statistical Analysis of Textual Data from Corpora of Written Communication – New Results from an Italian Interdisciplinary Research Program (EASIEST)

“…Written www.intechopen.com conversations retrieved from material produced during FC sessions enable researchers to collect large corpora of texts written by several individuals. The fact that the research is conducted in a setting of spontaneous written conversation and a semi-controlled environment is a major advantage (Rutter, 2005;Tager-Flusberg, 2004). A recent study developed in the frame of the EASIEST Project had already shown that the lexis used by IWA only partially overlapped with that of facilitators (Tuzzi, 2009).…”