Neurobiology of social behavior abnormalities in autism and Williams syndrome

Boaz Barak, Guoping Feng*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

159 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social behavior is a basic behavior mediated by multiple brain regions and neural circuits, and is crucial for the survival and development of animals and humans. Two neuropsychiatric disorders that have prominent social behavior abnormalities are autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which is characterized mainly by hyposociability, and Williams syndrome (WS), whose subjects exhibit hypersociability. Here we review the unique properties of social behavior in ASD and WS, and discuss the major theories in social behavior in the context of these disorders. We conclude with a discussion of the research questions needing further exploration to enhance our understanding of social behavior abnormalities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)647-655
Number of pages9
JournalNature Neuroscience
Volume19
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Apr 2016
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research
Simons Center for the Social Brain
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Mental HealthR01MH097104
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation
Autism Science Foundation
Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

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