RESEARCH ARTICLE Autism-epilepsy phenotyp L a

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are complex clinical conditions characterized by impairment in social and communicative functioning, and by restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors [1]. Autism is often associated with other neurological conditions, particularly with seizures or paroxysmal EEG, defining a specific condi-tion termed “Autism-Epilepsy Phenotype ” (AEP) [2]. Al-though largely multifactorial in their background, both conditions are highly heritable and seem to have strong genetic underpinnings [3-6]. The recent development of next-generation sequencing techniques has heavily fos-tered the chance to identify genes with a putative causal role [3]. However, the polygenic/multifactorial nature of both ASD and epilepsy, and the heterogeneity of their phenotypes, which possibly underlie different etiologies