New research finds that the brains of autistic children generate more information at rest -- a 42 percent increase on average. The study offers a scientific explanation for the most typical characteristic of autism -- withdrawal into one's own inner world.
“It may be the timing of brain activity that's abnormal, that the signals from one region of the brain to another get blurred in time. And the results of that is the brain is more stable in autism and it's not able to move between different thoughts or activities as quickly or as efficiently as someone without autism.”
Autistic people take the opposite approach with bottom-up thinking and use details to build concepts. It may take longer to filter out sensory details with this approach, but you're less likely to miss important information.
Compared with their non-autistic peers, autistic children have significantly faster expansion of the surface area of their cortex from 6 to 12 months of age. In the second year of life, brain volume increases much faster in autistic children than in their non-autistic peers.
Memorising and learning information quickly. Thinking and learning in a visual way. Logical thinking ability. May excel (if able) in academic areas such as science, engineering and mathematics as they are technical and logical subjects that do not heavily rely on social interaction.
Autistic brains develop more slowly than healthy brains, UCLA researchers say. Researchers at UCLA have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers.
A few different factors converge to explain why autistic people have an “overly full head” and disorganized thoughts, as well as why we may be scatterbrained, quick to lose oversight, and more prone to overstimulation and dysregulation. All these factors are likely caused by overconnectivity in the brain.
In some ways Williams syndrome is the opposite of autism. For example, people with Williams syndrome love to talk and tell stories, whereas those with autism usually have language delay and little imagination. Many people with Williams syndrome draw disjointed pictures, some with autism draw pictures in perfect detail.
As compared to both typically-developing controls or non-autistic individuals with mental retardation, individuals with ASD have a 5-10% enlargement in total brain volume at 18 months-4 years of age. The increased BS was attributed to an increase in both the gray and white matter volumes.
Since there is no physical test to diagnose this complex neurodevelopmental condition, doctors use behavior, history, and parent-reported interviews to diagnose ASD. Research is suggesting that, in future, brain scans may be used to diagnose autism, possibly even before behavioral symptoms become apparent.
Four social brain regions, the amygdala, OFC, TPC, and insula, are disrupted in ASD and supporting evidence is summarized; these constitute the proposed common pathogenic mechanism of ASD. Symptomatology is then addressed: widespread ASD symptoms can be explained as direct effects of disrupted social brain regions.
Therefore, it appears that while some individuals may be aware they are autistic, others may not fully understand why they have difficulties connecting with people socially or engaging in conversation - yet still realize they are 'different.
For people on the autism spectrum, the world is a bewildering place. With oversensitive sensory systems, they battle to process the maelstrom of information flowing into their brains. Often the result is sensory overload, leading to signature behaviours such as tantrums, anxiety and social withdrawal.
There is not just one cause of ASD. There are many different factors that have been identified that may make a child more likely to have ASD, including environmental, biologic, and genetic factors.
“High-functioning autism” isn't an official medical term or diagnosis. It's an informal one some people use when they talk about people with autism spectrum disorder , or ASD, who can speak, read, write, and handle basic life skills like eating and getting dressed. They can live independently.
Autism spectrum disorders are generally thought to be caused by deficits in brain development, but a study in mice now suggests that at least some aspects of the disorder -- including how touch is perceived, anxiety, and social abnormalities -- are linked to defects in another area of the nervous system, the peripheral ...
Research suggests that autism develops from a combination of genetic and nongenetic, or environmental, influences. These influences appear to increase the risk that a child will develop autism. However, it's important to keep in mind that increased risk is not the same as cause.
Progress has been made toward understanding different environmental risk factors, and the clearest evidence involves events before and during birth, such as: Advanced parental age at time of conception. Prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides. Maternal obesity, diabetes, or immune system disorders.
These types of behaviors aren't unique to people with autism. Most people engage in some such behaviors. Common forms of perseveration include: A strong "need" to watch the same TV shows or sporting events, without fail.
Why might autistic people find it easier to understand other autistic people? Research indicates that autistic people are less likely to rely on typical social expectations for interacting, or be upset if such expectations are not followed [6, 7].
“Daydreaming, by itself, is an example of what is called "autistic thinking ", which means thinking that is sufficient unto itself, and not subjected to any criticism.
Abstract Some children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) exhibit low mental age (Low-MA), defined here as cognitive functioning below 12 months.
Some of these investigators have proposed that perception of time is altered among many people who have autism. Interestingly, other researchers have found that time perception can be an area of strength for certain people on the spectrum. Some people affected by autism appear to excel at time reproduction.
Total brain volume in boys with autism tends to be larger than that of controls before age 10. This difference fades between ages 10 and 15, as brain volume in controls increases.