Pathogenic effects of central nervous system hyperarousal

Pharmacological Neuromodulation in Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Recent studies are consistent with a fetal programming hypothesis of ASD that considers environmental risk factors that affect the fetal environment and interact with genetic variants (Szatmari 2011). The pathogenic potential of dysregulated states may further stress developmentally vulnerable neurodevelopment (Duke, B. , 2008).…”

Early Negative Affect Predicts Anxiety, not Autism, in Preschool Boys with Fragile X Syndrome

“…Despite this dual vulnerability of child and family factors, no studies have specifically investigated how maternal symptoms relate to the negative affect in this sample. Increased attention to these early risk factors is essential to intervening on and minimizing the potential negative effects of chronic hyperarousal and anxiety, particularly during early developmental periods of neural plasticity (Duke 2008). …”

“…Mood and anxiety disorders are most commonly attributed to dysregulation of limbic system in regions such as the hippocampus and amygdala, which function to modulate stress response and process emotional stimuli, respectively (see Martin et al 2010, for review). Repetitive and poorly-modulated activation of stress response systems results in compromised capacity to adaptively respond to acute challenges (McEwen 1998), which may be particularly debilitating to children during key periods of early development (Duke 2008). These neurobiological processes relate to a variety of biobehavioral symptoms.…”

Altered circadian profiles in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An integrative review and theoretical framework for future studies

“…Moreover, some interventions that change the timing of the biological clock in the brain (e.g., sleep deprivation, light therapy) have efficacy as treatments for these conditions (Wehr et al, 1979). For instance, Agomelatine, a new antidepressive agent with phase advancing characteristics has become available (Fornaro et al, 2010;San and Arranz, 2008) and appears to be effective in at least a subgroup of patients (Duke, 2008). Diurnal variations in symptoms and altered profiles of circadian markers are also found in seasonal depressive disorder (Lewy et al, 2006), bipolar disorder (Harvey, 2008), and schizophrenia (Rao et al, 1994).…”