CommentaryEarly life seizures: Evidence for chronic deficits linked to autism and intellectual disability across species and models

•Recent work in Exp Neurol linked ELSs to ASD and ID in mice.•We reviewed the literature surrounding the development of ASD/ID after ELSs.•Chronic behavioral changes after ELSs are common.•Mechanisms of chronic behavioral change after ELSs may be dependent on model and species.

Recent work in Exp Neurol by Lugo et al. (2014b) demonstrated chronic alterations in sociability, learning and memory following multiple early life seizures (ELS) in a mouse model. This work adds to the growing body of evidence supporting the detrimental nature of ELS on the developing brain to contribute to aspects of an autistic phenotype with intellectual disability. Review of the face validity of behavioral testing and the construct validity of the models used informs the predictive ability and thus the utility of these models to translate underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms into future human studies.