Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)

Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders), The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) – part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services.

  • Press release: Balance Tips toward Environment as Heritability Ebbs in Autism? – The largest and most rigorous twin study of its kind to date has found that shared environment influences susceptibility to autism more than previously thought. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, found that shared environmental factors — experiences and exposures common to both twin individuals — accounted for 55 percent of strict autism and 58 percent of more broadly defined autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Genetic heritability accounted for 37 percent of autism and 38 percent of ASD. Random environmental factors not shared among twins play a much smaller role. Earlier twin studies had estimated the genetic heritability of autism to be as high as 90 percent, due to much lower estimates of concordance — both members of a twin pair having the disorder — in fraternal twins. The new study found such concordance to be four to five times higher.”
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