Folstein S E
Annu Rev Med. 1985;36:415-9. doi: 10.1146/annurev.me.36.020185.002215.
Infantile autism probably has many etiologies. Several specific genetic disorders appear to be associated with the syndrome much more often than would be expected by chance, but these account for only a minority of cases. In the majority of cases, where etiology is still unknown, genetic factors probably also play a role. Evidence suggests, however, that it is not autism per se that is inherited, but less severe abnormalities of language and cognition, which in turn lead to a predisposition to the development of autism in infants.
婴儿自闭症可能有多种病因。几种特定的遗传疾病似乎比偶然预期的更常与该综合征相关，但这些仅占少数病例。在大多数病因仍不明的病例中，遗传因素可能也起作用。然而，有证据表明，遗传的并非自闭症本身，而是不太严重的语言和认知异常，进而导致婴儿患自闭症的易感性。
