Social dysfunction is a universal feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that emerges early in childhood. Research in the McPartland Lab explores the developmental interaction between early-occurring vulnerabilities in social behavior and subsequent experience in children with ASD. Dr. McPartland will describe an approach using clinical insights to guide neuroscientific study towards the
development of translational applications. The lecture will review a series of studies to test and expand upon the predictions of the social motivation hypothesis of ASD. This developmental model offers direct implications for meaningfully characterizing subgroups of individuals with autism, designing targeted treatments, and elucidating the neural underpinnings of effective intervention. (#27769)