Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) without boundaries: research and interventions beyond classifications.

This webinar discussed a new way of thinking about autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Instead of seeing them as separate disorders, researchers are viewing them as part of a spectrum or continuum. The discussion covered how factors like genetics, immune system, gut health, and brain development all connect. This new understanding might lead to treatments that address multiple symptoms across different conditions rather than focusing on single diagnoses.

This webinar summary presents a dimensional approach to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), moving beyond traditional categorical classifications. The discussion covered multiple research areas including irritability in NDD, immune system involvement, gut microbiota influences on brain inflammation, co-occurring conditions in autistic individuals, genetic effects on cognition and autism risk, and the autism-schizophrenia continuum. The webinar emphasized that genetic, environmental, clinical, and imaging evidence supports viewing NDD as existing on a continuum rather than as discrete categories. This paradigm shift suggests potential for developing broader-spectrum treatments and psychotherapies targeting co-occurring symptoms across traditional diagnostic boundaries.

The dimensional approach to neurodevelopmental disorders may lead to development of broad-spectrum treatments and psychotherapies addressing co-occurring symptoms. This could modify therapeutic strategies by moving away from disorder-specific interventions toward transdiagnostic approaches targeting shared mechanisms and symptoms.

This is a webinar summary rather than original research. No sample sizes, methodological details, or specific data are provided. The findings represent conceptual frameworks and research directions rather than empirical evidence.

On June 2022, the 2nd Webinar "Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD) without boundaries took place at the Imagine Institute in Paris and was broadcasted live and in replay. The aim of this webinar is to address NDD in a dimensional rather than in a categorical approach. Several speakers were invited to present their researches on the subject. Classifications in NDD were discussed: irritability in NDD, involvement of the immune system in neurodevelopment, nutrition and gut microbiota modulate brain inflammation and neurodevelopment, co-occurring conditions in autistic adolescents and adults without intellectual disability.

Classifications in psychiatric disorders were asked: mapping the effect of genes on cognition and autism risk, epigenetics and symptomatic trajectory in neurodevelopmental disorders, the autism-schizophrenia continuum in two examples: minor neurological signs and EEG microstates, the cerebellum in schizophrenia and autism: from imaging to intervention perspectives. Both genetic and environmental factors, along with clinical and imaging features, argue toward a continnum between NDD but also with adult psychiatric presentations. This new paradigm could modify the therapeutic strategy, with the development of large-spectrum treatments or new psychotherapies addressing co-occuring symptoms. The complexity and the heterogeneity of NDD apply well to the next scientific and political challenges: developing international convergence to push back the frontiers of our knowledge.

This article is a summary of the 2nd webinar "Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD) without boundaries: research and interventions beyond classifications" sponsored by the French National Academy of Medicine, the autism and neurodevelopmental disorders scientific interest group (GIS), the International Research Network Dev-O-Psy and the French Institute of Psychiatry (GDR3557). Oral presentations are available as a replay on the following website (in French): https://autisme-neurodev.org/evenements/2022/04/12/tnd-sans-frontieres-la-recherche-et-les-interventions-au-dela-des-classifications/ .