Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders involving
a number of deficits to linguistic cognition. The gap between genetics and the
pathophysiology of ASD remains open, in particular regarding its distinctive linguistic
profile. The goal of this article is to attempt to bridge this gap, focusing on how the
autistic brain processes language, particularly through the perspective of brain rhythms.
Due to the phenomenon of pleiotropy, which may take some decades to overcome,
we believe that studies of brain rhythms, which are not faced with problems of this
scale, may constitute a more tractable route to interpreting language deficits in ASD
and eventually other neurocognitive disorders. Building on recent attempts to link neural
oscillations to certain computational primitives of language, we show that interpreting
language deficits in ASD as oscillopathic traits is a potentially fruitful way to construct
successful endophenotypes of this condition. Additionally, we will show that candidate
genes for ASD are overrepresented among the genes that played a role in the evolution
of language. These genes include (and are related to) genes involved in brain rhythmicity.
We hope that the type of steps taken here will additionally lead to a better understanding
of the comorbidity, heterogeneity, and variability of ASD, and may help achieve a better
treatment of the affected populations.