Autism is defined by abnormal behavior in the spheres of communication, social relatedness, and stereotyped behaviors within the first 3 years of life. In children with autism, there is an early acceleration of brain growth, which overshoots typical dimensions, leading to transient cerebral enlargement (Courchesne et al., 2007). Brain imaging and genetic studies of COS provided unexpected links to autism with respect to a “shift to the right” in early brain development (more rapid brain growth during the first years of life in autism and premature decrease in cortical thickness during adolescence for COS). A possible intermediate phenotype of altered timing of brain developmental events (Rapoport et al., 2009) or alternate “polar” brain pathways have been proposed (Crespi et al., 2010). We predict that future treatment research will focus on agents that have more general “normalizing effects” on brain development. To date, there is limited evidence that stimulant drugs may have such an effect as mentioned above (Sobel et al., 2010).
