The role of the endocannabinoid system as a therapeutic target for autism spectrum disorder: Lessons from behavioral studies on mouse models

•Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex pathology with unknown aetiology and developing therapeutic approaches.•ASD is characterized by the absence of biomarkers, so that preclinical research focuses on the behavioural characterization.•Recent mouse behavioural studies have highlighted the role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in ASD.•Novel pharmacological treatments and new genetic mouse models for ASD can be identified and designed by targeting the ECS.•Advanced behavioural analyses are of critical relevance to understand the link between the ECS and ASD.