Research on the Brain and Autism
Autism has recently been talked about as a “whole body” syndrome—-recent research on the brain can still very much aid in understanding autism, and helps me to think about why my son struggles not simply to talk, but to connect the spoken word to his thoughts and then again to his actions. Mike Stanton at Action for Autism has a recent post on Neuroscience and Autism and “brains that go bump in the night”; he notes how modern brain imaging techniques enable us to see the brain in living subjects and considers one study about how autistic persons process faces. One type of brain imaging technique is magnetoencephalography (MEG), which is being used to scan the brains of autistic children in a study at at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The November 2nd ABC news (local) reports on autism brain scans and MEG:
Lead researcher Timothy Roberts says MEG is often used to pinpoint the source of seizures in epilepsy or to map the brain before surgery.
While [8-year-old] Parker [who has autism] is occupied watching “Scooby-Doo” the machine measures how his brain responds to a series of close-together sounds.
“With the MEG machine, we don’t ask the child, we ask the child’s brain,” said Dr. Roberts.
It turns out that the ‘hearing’ part of Parker’s brain can’t process fast-moving sounds. Dr. Roberts said kids with this type of deficit never ‘hear’ words correctly, and therefore have such a tough time learning to ’say’ them. By understanding, which brain connections are missing or malfunctioning in autism, doctors hope to develop better therapies in the future.
Fast-paced sounds are more difficult for Charlie to process (and Jim and I are both fast talkers, and have to remind ourselves to slow down—–though I think Charlie has acquired the habit of speaking quickly and himself needs to be reminded to slow down and articulate every syllable). I’m not so sure about Charlie getting an MEG—-he has had an MRI twice, and was sedated both times. (And the MRI simply revealed that he had……….irregularities in some parts of his brain similar to those of the brains of other autistic persons.)
NPR today also reports about mirror neurons, which are a type of brain cell that are said to “fire” both when a person performs an action and when a person sees someone else performing the same action. It has been posited that autistic persons’ mirror neuron system has been adversely affected, and that autism has something to do with a dysfunction of the mirror neuron system:
Those neurons are thought to allow people to imitate and empathize. But in people with autism, they don’t work the way they’re supposed to.
They work differently—-Charlie has certainly learned to imitate and to feel as and what others do. Certainly he knows when Jim and I might be feeling stressed or elated, due to whatever reasons; it’s how the sounds and meaning of language enter into his brain and thinking and are processed that is the hard part for him.
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POSTED IN: Neuroscience, Science, Technology
8 opinions for Research on the Brain and Autism
mcewen
Nov 5, 2007 at 5:29 pm
The research is certainly very interesting, but it’s the ‘how to help’ component that we’re still hoping to hear about.
As for empathy, I still think that they’re all far more ‘in tune’ than the rest of us.
Cheers
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 5, 2007 at 5:30 pm
I have to agree! My own noggin is surely getting a workout these days trying to keep up with my guy’s….
Lisa/Jedi
Nov 5, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Brendan has been thinking a lot lately about the word “disorder” & has decided that he doesn’t have a “disorder”, that he doesn’t feel “disordered”. We have decided together as a family to refer to him has having “Autism Spectrum Difference” from now on, which he’s much more comfortable with. I’m really proud of how he’s challenging the way we & the rest of the world speak & think of things that are so important to him! He’s just 11, but taking charge of his life already…
Marcie
Nov 6, 2007 at 10:06 am
The reports on “mirron neurons” keep insisting that’s its a particular type of neuron, yet I’ve never read anything to suggest that it would be structurally different. Maybe further research will show the basis of why those go off, rather than the researchers just assuming. Hear’s hoping.
Beth
Nov 6, 2007 at 11:31 am
This is an interesting study and I look forward to more studies like this which focus on how the brain works differently in autism. My son with Asperger’s, like the boy watching Scooby Doo, seems to be unable to hear me when his attention is occupied. Instead of repeating myself over and over, I actually have to break his attention by touching him on the shoulder or standing right in front of him before I can be sure that he hears what I am saying.
More insight into how an autistic brain works differently may help parents and teachers develop specific strategies for dealing with challenges and obstacles.
This is the kind of research that I like to see.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 6, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Marcie: Perhaps what might be found out is why they go off, or why the mirror neurons don’t?
Charlie does something similar to your son, Beth, also with his eyes sliding to the corners of his eyes (to the left, often). He looks like he is looking at something completely different but I’m very sure (based on later interactions) that he is indeed listening and absorbing things, in his way.
More on Mirror Neurons
Nov 7, 2007 at 4:13 am
[…] November 2007 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience is all about mirror neurons, brain cells that are activated or “fire” both when we perform an action and also when […]
Marcie
Nov 7, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Yes, I’m thinking that there might be some underlying connectivity, for which “mirror neurons” are the end product. (Sorry, I have to put “mirror neuron” in quotes because it makes me think of glass in the brain.)
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