New therapeutic option in severe autism spectrum disorders: The deep brain stimulation in mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is currently considered a complex neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in impaired social and language skills and behavioral disorders. Motor stereotypies and self-injurious behavior of low-functioning autism are often resistant to medical therapy. Deep brain stimulation in mesolimbic and mesocortical circuits seems to be significantly effective in controlling these symptoms but very few cases are treated with this approach. The targets proposed are globus pallidus internus (GPi), anterior limb of internal capsule (ALIC), basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc). Studies conducted on greater number of patients are therefore necessary to verify the effectiveness of DBS in ASD and to explore other potential targets.