Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which etiology is still unknown in the majority of cases. Common brain abnormalities have been described in autistic individuals: increased brain volume, neuroanatomic alterations in the prefrontal cortex and abnormal hemispheric lateralization (Lainhart, 2006). Several studies found an atypical cerebral asymmetry (ACA) in autistic individuals, i.e. the atypical profile of the right hemisphere dominance for language (Flagg et al., 2005, Kleinhans et al., 2008). Noteworthy, children with autism display some degree of language impairment and approximately one third of them never develop speech.

MR is a recipient of a Miguel de Servet contract from “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (Spain) and CT was supported by “Marco Polo” (University of Bologna, Italy), “Fundació La Marató de TV3” (Spain) and Biomedical Network Research Centre on Rare Diseases (CIBERER) fellowships.

Peer reviewed