Investigating Molecular Footprint in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Genetics, Epigenetics and Neuroimaging in the Field
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Neurobiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 241
Special Issue Editors
Interests: autism spectrum disorders; neurodevelopmental disorders; molecular underpinning; epigenetic, genetic, and advanced neuroimaging; brain function; brain structure
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Autism spectrum disorders are a group of conditions among neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by sociocommunicative impairment together with repetitive behaviors. Recent estimates report a prevalence of 1/36, suggesting the disorder is a major public health issue. The development of an autistic brain is a highly complex process, which reflects high heterogeneity, as evident from the involvement of various genetic and non-genetic factors which are reflected either in phenotypic expression or neural underpinnings. Indeed, a hallmark of heterogeneity in autism is its multilevel presentation, applicable from genotype through phenotype, throughout development, and manifesting as important clinical differentiation, such as outcome or response to treatment. Evidence from genetic and epigenetic studies is providing the molecular link to neural organization, which is being investigated thanks to the increasing availability of advanced neuroimaging studies, either structural or functional.
We welcome authors to submit original research and review articles contributing to a better understand the following, or related, topics: i) the application of advanced neuroimaging (either structural or functional) techniques in autism spectrum disorders, focused either on neural underpinnings or brain plasticity related to treatment outcome/monitoring; ii) genetic studies in the field of autism; and iii) epigenetics studies in the field of autism.
Dr. Eugenia Conti
Dr. Marco Turi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- autism spectrum disorders
- neurodevelopmental disorders
- molecular underpinnings
- epigenetic, genetic, and advanced neuroimaging
- brain function
- brain structure
