Cited by 100Hemispheric Asymmetry in NeuroscienceAutism Spectrum Disorder ResearchSexual Differentiation and Disorders

Atypical Lateralization in Neurodevelopmental and Psychiatric Disorders: What Is the Role of Stress?

Berretz, Gesa, Wolf, Oliver T., Güntürkün, Onur, Ocklenburg, Sebastian·2020·Cortex

Abstract

Hemispheric asymmetries are a major organizational principle of the human brain. In different neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, like schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, depression, dyslexia and posttraumatic stress disorder, functional and/or structural hemispheric asymmetries are altered compared to healthy controls. The question, why these disorders all share the common characteristic of altered hemispheric asymmetries despite vastly different etiologies and symptoms remains one of the unsolved mysteries of laterality research. This review is aimed at reviewing potential reasons for why atypical lateralization is so common in many neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. To this end, we review the evidence for overlaps in the genetic and non-genetic factors involved in the ontogenesis of different disorders and hemispheric asymmetries. While there is evidence for genetic overlap between different disorders, only few asymmetry-related loci have also been linked to disorders and importantly, those effects are mostly specific to single disorders. However, there is evidence for shared non-genetic influences between disorders and hemispheric asymmetries. Most neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders show alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis and maternal as well as early life stress have been implicated in their etiology. Stress has also been suggested to affect hemispheric asymmetries. We propose a model in which early life stress as well as chronic stress not only increases the risk for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders but also changes structural and functional hemispheric asymmetries leading to the aberrant lateralization patterns seen in these disorders. Thus, pathology-related changes in hemispheric asymmetries are not a factor causing disorders, but rather a different phenotype that is affected by partly overlapping ontogenetic factors, primarily stress.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.12.019

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Authors
Berretz, G., Wolf, O. T., Güntürkün, O., & Ocklenburg, S.
Affiliations
  • Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
  • University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
Corresponding author
Ocklenburg, Sebastian
Venue
Cortex
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-04
Volume
125
Pages
215-232
ISSN
0010-9452 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2999832486
Cited by
100
References
200
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 8
FWCI
2.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Cortex (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Universitätsbibliographie, Universität Duisburg-Essen (submittedVersion)
Funders
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
Keywords
hemispheric lateralization, atypical lateralization, neurodevelopmental disorders, mental illness, early life stress, chronic stress, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, depression, dyslexia, post-traumatic stress disorder, genetic overlap, ontogeny
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brain, Humans, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Schizophrenia

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