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Byline: A. Bailey (1), S. Palferman (1), L. Heavey (1), A. Le Couteur (2) Keywords: Autism; genetics; relatives; variable phenotypic expression Abstract: There is broad agreement that genetic influences are central in the development of idiopathic autism. Whether relatives manifest genetically related milder phenotypes, and if so how these relate to autism proper, has proved a more contentious issue. A review of the relevant studies indicates that relatives are sometimes affected by difficulties that appear conceptually related to autistic behaviors. These range in severity from pervasive developmental disorders to abnormalities in only one area of functioning, and possibly extend to related personality traits. Issues involved in clarifying the components of milder phenotypes and their relationship to autism are outlined. Author Affiliation: (1) Medical Research Council Child Psychiatry Unit and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom (2) Academic Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Fleming Nuffield Unit, Burdon Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 3AE, United Kingdom Article History: Registration Date: 29/09/2004

Two experiments which investigated the pattern construction by artistically gifted, autistic savants revealed that individuals with autism are able to construct a pattern from segmented components, but this factor is certainly intelligence-dependent. The weak central coherence in autism is seen to account for the relatively high frequency of savants among the autistic population. One explanation of what an artist does is to construct pictures by isolating and emphasizing component parts and autistic savants tend to do well on tests measuring this ability.