Editorial: What to Do About Rigid, Repetitive Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Rigid, repetitive behaviors (RRBs) as a part of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are perplexing. First, how is it that they associate with deficits in social communication and social interaction to create a strong symptomatic association for the DSM-5 diagnosis of ASD?1 Deficits in social communication make sense in how they define a developmental disorder, but what is the mechanism by which social interaction and RRBs connect to define the classification of ASD? Perhaps it is that, rather than by neurotransmitters or linked structural brain regions, ASD is a neural systems condition mediated by abnormalities in regionally distributed cortical networks.2

Source: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - November 22, 2020 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Robert L. Hendren Tags: Editorial Source Type: research