ReviewGenetic and environmental modulation of neurodevelopmental disorders: Translational insights from labs to beds

- Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are severely debilitating neuropsychiatric illnesses.
- NDDs are caused by aberrant brain development, and have strong genetic causes and risk factors.
- NDDs are also modulated by various environmental factors, and can be modeled experimentally.
- Animal models are a valuable tool to mimic a wide spectrum of NDDs and related conditions.
- Here, we discuss the neurobiological mechanisms of selected NDDs and their experimental models.

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are a heterogeneous group of prevalent neuropsychiatric illnesses with various degrees of social, cognitive, motor, language and affective deficits. NDDs are caused by aberrant brain development due to genetic and environmental perturbations. Common NDDs include autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability, communication/speech disorders, motor/tic disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Genetic and epigenetic/environmental factors play a key role in these NDDs with significant societal impact. Given the lack of their efficient therapies, it is important to gain further translational insights into the pathobiology of NDDs. To address these challenges, the International Stress and Behavior Society (ISBS) has established the Strategic Task Force on NDDs. Summarizing the Panel's findings, here we discuss the neurobiological mechanisms of selected common NDDs and a wider NDD+ spectrum of associated neuropsychiatric disorders with developmental trajectories. We also outline the utility of existing preclinical (animal) models for building translational and cross-diagnostic bridges to improve our understanding of various NDDs.