Autoimmunity Shapes Neurodevelopment

Antibodies and other immune processes that target brain proteins can produce symptoms currently labeled psychiatric or developmental; tracing these autoimmune mechanisms in children could reclassify some neurodevelopmental disorders and open new diagnostic and treatment pathways. The article uses the history of autoimmune encephalitis (anti‑NMDA receptor antibodies) as a concrete example and argues the brain is not an immune‑free zone. — If autoimmune mechanisms explain a share of psychiatric and developmental conditions, diagnostics, clinical pathways, research funding, and stigma around mental illness would need to be reconsidered.