International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience
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Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication, and repetitive behavior and restricted interests. The normal brain development during fetal brain development and the first year of life is critical to the behaviors and cognitions in adulthood. ⋯ It has been demonstrated a possible association between neural cell death and autism. Here, the abnormal apoptosis found in autism from postmortem and animal studies was reviewed and the possible mechanism was discussed.