Biologically integrative research of autism

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06316
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Basic / Social brain science
• Research Institution: Kobe University (2019-2021); Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (2016-2018)
• Principal Investigator: Takumi Toru 神戸大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (00222092)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-05-31 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 自閉症 / コピー数多型 / 細胞モデル / 一細胞RNAseq / 社会性行動 / 神経ネットワーク / 脳腸連関

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Autism is a developmental disorder with impaired social skills. It is a multifactorial complex disorder with a high genetic contribution, but the involvement of environmental factors cannot be denied, and the elucidation of its pathophysiology is still incomplete. In this study, we clarified one aspect of autism pathology by conducting multidisciplinary analysis at the cellular/synaptic (development of autistic cell models), circuit/behavioral (clarification of neural circuits for abnormal social behavior), and environmental factors (disorders of brain development due to brain-gut interactions) levels, incorporating methodologies that employ the most advanced technologies for each.

Free Research Field

基盤・社会脳科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

自閉症は発症率増加の一途をたどり最近では発症率が２％を超えごく普通に見られる発達障害であり、少子化に苦しむ我が国にとって、その対策は喫緊の課題である。自閉症の研究はこれまで障がい児教育の心理学的研究など、主に教育学的研究が中心であったが、本研究成果により得られた自閉症病態の生物学的理解は、患児との共生社会を形成する上で知見を与えるだけなく物質的根拠に基づいた将来の新規診断・治療法の開発の基盤となる。