Restricted Repetitive Behavior in Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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Background

Restricted, repetitive behavior (RRB) includes categories of behaviors characterized as being rigid or inflexible, exhibiting little variation in form of expression, and having no apparent purpose or function. These behaviors range from repetitive movements (e.g., motor stereotypies) to behaviors reflecting insistence on sameness or resistance to change (e.g., compulsions, rituals). RRB is diagnostic for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and common in other neurodevelopmental disorders including intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRD), and tic disorders. Despite its clinical importance, relatively little is known about the conditions that give rise to and maintain RRB in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Moreover, effective biological treatments for these aberrant behaviors are lacking, likely because the underlying neural circuitry and neurobiological mechanisms have not been adequately identified.

There have been few attempts to bring together and integrate findings from studies of the neurobiology of repetitive behavior that cut across clinical and pre-clinical areas of investigation. There is a need to highlight the transdiagnostic features of RRB, anchor this pathological condition in its normative expression in typical development, and examine the translational value of animal models with a robust repetitive behavioral phenotype. An important goal is to provide a collection of articles that reflect up to date clinical and pre-clinical findings on the neurobiology of RRB, highlighting current evidence for the neural circuitry and neurobiological mechanisms mediating these behaviors. This includes contributions that reflect recent advances in technologies that map neural circuitry, such as optogenetics and chemogenetics. It also includes contributions that reflect the increasing sophistication of neuroimaging technologies, and what they reveal about the neurobiology of RRB. Findings derived from application of cutting-edge genetic technologies and the availability of current transgenic models that have repetitive behavior as a defining phenotypic feature are also welcome. Finally, challenges to implementing these findings into clinical practice should be addressed.

The scope of this Research Topic is the neurobiology of the restricted repetitive behavior (RRB) that is prominent in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders. Specific themes include the transdiagnostic nature of RRB, integration of clinical and pre-clinical investigations, and the identification of the neural circuitry and neurobiological mechanisms that appear to mediate these behaviors. Of particular interest are contributions that address the role of the cerebellum in RRB and cerebellar-basal ganglia interactions that mediate RRB. The translational value of pre-clinical or animal models will also be an emphasis. We are interested in manuscripts that review the relevant literature critically with these parameters in mind. We also welcome manuscripts representing either clinical or pre-clinical empirical investigations that provide new information about the neural circuitry and neural mechanisms mediating RRB.

Keywords: Stereotypy, Compulsions, Autism, Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, Cognitive and Behavioral Inflexibility, Intellectual Disability, Insistence on Sameness, Basal Ganglia, Animal Models

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