The Cerebellum-Ventral Tegmental Area Microcircuit and Its Implications for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Narrative Review

Overview

Journal Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat

Publisher Dove Medical Press

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2024 Nov 4

PMID 39494383

Authors

Peiling Zhou

Shiyu Peng

Sizhe Wen

Qinghui Lan

Yingyin Zhuang

Xuyan Li

Mengliang Shi

Changzheng Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The cerebellum has long been implicated in the etiopathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and emerging evidence suggests a significant contribution by reciprocal neural circuits between the cerebellum and ventral tegmental area (VTA) in symptom expression. This review provides a concise overview of morphological and functional alterations in the cerebellum and VTA associated with ASD symptoms, primarily focusing on human studies while also integrating mechanistic insights from animal models. We propose that cerebello-VTA circuit dysfunctional is a major contributor to ASD symptoms and that these circuits are promising targets for drugs and therapeutic brain stimulation methods.

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