Source corpus · 2019–2026

Publications

Five works trace the framework from its general neurodevelopmental architecture, through the autism-specific theory and later refinements, to its first preliminary empirical test.

Development history

The Pathogenetic Triad literature is cumulative, but not retrospectively rewritten.

Published wording remains part of the historical record. Later definitions may refine terminology or qualify a claim, while the original publication and its assertions remain traceable.

The summaries below explain each publication’s role in the cumulative literature of the framework.

2019 · updated 2021PreprintPT-PUB-001

A Framework for Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Operationalization of a Pathogenetic Triad

PsyArXiv

Role in the framework

Origin of the general neurodevelopmental architecture and the insult–buffering–burden logic.

Academic summary

Introduced a general architecture separating phenotype-organizing traits, cognitive resources, and the realized effects of developmental insults, with regulatory systems shaping how insults become burden. Provided a scoping review illustrating the lack of diagnostic specificity in the association between neurodevelopmental insults and attained cognitive abilities; biopsychosocial insults were associated with lower attained cognitive and executive resources across diagnoses.

2021TheoryPT-PUB-002

A Unifying Theory for Autism: The Pathogenetic Triad as a Theoretical Framework

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Role in the framework

Applied the framework to the scientific literature on autism and proposed 30 postulates to support falsifiability.

Academic summary

Applied the general triad to autism, formalized its initial causal architecture, and published 30 theory-level and empirical statements to support falsifiability.

2023CommentaryPT-PUB-003

Commentary: Autism: A model of neurodevelopmental diversity informed by genomics

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Role in the framework

Alternative-model comparison and refinement of genetic specificity and transdiagnostic predictions.

Academic summary

Compared the PT with a genomics-informed neurodevelopmental-diversity model and sharpened questions about common trait liability, high-impact variation, pleiotropy, and transdiagnostic burden. The comparison was illustrated with falsifiable hypotheses.

2026ExtensionPT-PUB-004

Integrating Ultimate and Proximate Explanations of Neurodivergence: Evolutionary Trade-Offs, Compensation, and Clinical Expression

Evolutionary Applications

Role in the framework

Placement of the framework within an evolutionary paradigm and extension of its relation to the psychosocial environment.

Academic summary

Specified how components of the framework relate to evolutionary mechanisms by connecting proximate mechanisms with evolutionary trade-offs, broadening compensation beyond a single resource, and making environmental fit, sustained mismatch, and secondary outcomes more explicit.

2026Empirical studyPT-PUB-005

Preliminary testing of a prespecified liability architecture for autism: theory-guided pathogenetic triad models outperform strength-matched alternatives

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Role in the framework

First direct empirical test of one prespecified PT architectural operationalization.

Academic summary

In a small adult male IQ-matched cohort, prespecified AQ, working-memory, and HRV operationalizations produced low-dimensional PT-consistent models that outperformed strength-matched alternative models under nested cross-validation. This is preliminary support for one prediction under one proxy set, not causal or construct validation.