Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and epilepsy are two neurodevelopmental disorders that have a high comorbidity rate, suggesting that a common neurodevelopmental mechanism exists. However, to date there is no conclusive way to predict whether a child will develop either syndrome or both and to what degree associated phenotypes will be affected. Failure to consistently identify predictive patterns of ASD and/or epilepsy diagnosis stems from the fact that they are etiologically heterogeneous conditions and research into their neuropathological mechanisms becomes challenging. Whole genome/exome sequencing has advanced our understanding of the genetic causes of ASD and epilepsy to an extent that currently about half of all ASD as well as epilepsy cases are known to have a genetic basis. In fact, a picture is emerging of both conditions as a collection of distinct genetically defined disorders, although the role of environmental factors has also been established. A plethora of animal models, most of them based on identified human genetic mutations and a few on known environmental causes, have been developed. Animal models provide a major experimental avenue for studying the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of human disorders. They also provide invaluable preclinical tools that can be used to test therapeutic approaches. In this review, we first summarize the methods for validating mouse models of ASD and epilepsy. Second, we present the current models validated for the comorbidity and finally, we recapitulate the common pathomechanisms identified in these models with special emphasis on synaptic plasticity.

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和癫痫病是两种具有高合并症率的神经发育障碍，表明存在一种常见的神经发育机制。然而，迄今为止，尚无结论性的方法来预测儿童是否会发展为综合症或两者兼而有之，以及相关的表型将受到何种程度的影响。无法一致地确定ASD和/或癫痫诊断的预测模式是由于它们在病因学上存在异质性，因此对其神经病理学机制的研究变得具有挑战性。全基因组/外显子组测序已使我们对ASD和癫痫的遗传原因有了更深的了解，目前已知所有ASD和癫痫病例中约有一半具有遗传基础。事实上，尽管已经确定了环境因素的作用，但两种情况正在以不同的遗传定义疾病的集合出现。已经开发了许多动物模型，其中大多数是基于已识别的人类遗传突变的，而一些是基于已知的环境原因的。动物模型为研究人类疾病的潜在细胞和分子机制提供了主要的实验途径。他们还提供了宝贵的临床前工具，可用于测试治疗方法。在本文中，我们首先总结了验证ASD和癫痫小鼠模型的方法。其次，我们介绍了目前已通过合并症验证的模型，最后，我们总结了在这些模型中确定的常见致病机制，并特别强调了突触可塑性。