Autism ASD

<p>Jun 6, 2010 3:54 PM &nbsp;AUTISM</p>

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characteristic triad of symptoms: <b>impairments in social interaction</b>; <b>impairments in communication;</b> and <b>restricted interests and repetitive behavior</b></p>

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impaired social interaction and communication &nbsp;and restricted and repetitive behavior.

begins prior to age 3.

ASD = Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Asperger Syndrome &nbsp;(lacks DELAY in cognitive develop and language)

Aspergers has been proposed to be ELIMINATED &nbsp;and replaced simply by ASD.

Asperger = &nbsp;lacked nonverbal communc skills, limited empathy, physical clumsiness.</p>

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ASD &nbsp;4X males as females; ASD affects 6 per 1000.

strong genetic basis</p>

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Temple Grandin &nbsp;(noted autistic) &nbsp;&nbsp;like an anthropologist on Mars.</p>

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Strong genetic basis: &nbsp;.7 for AUT &nbsp;and .9 for ASD.</p>

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Pathophys: &nbsp;prob neurodevelop is affected v early in develop &nbsp;(maybe first trimester).

Cascade of patho events. &nbsp;&nbsp;just after birth the brains of autist kids tends to

grow FASTER

than usu, &nbsp;followed by nl or rel slower growth in childhood.

It seems most prom in brain areas dealing with higher cognit speicalization.</p>

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? &nbsp;an xs of neurons that cause local overconnectivity in key brain areas

disturbed migration

abnl formation of synapses or spines.</p>

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Mirror Neuron System defect hypothesis ... &nbsp;some supporting evid. but many weaknesses in

this theory... &nbsp;many other circuits are defective, &nbsp;autistic kids can do imitation involving objects and goals.</p>

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The <b>underconnectivity theory of autism hypothesizes that autism is marked by underfunctioning high-level neural connections and synchronization, along with an excess of low-level processes.[</b>91] Evidence for this theory has been found in functional neuroimaging studies on autistic individuals[31] and by a brainwave study that suggested that adults with ASD <b>have local overconnectivity in the cortex </b>and <b>weak functional connections between the frontal lobe and the rest of the cortex</b>.[92] Other evidence suggests the underconnectivity is mainly within each hemisphere of the cortex and that autism is a disorder of the association cortex.[93]

From studies based on event-related potentials, transient changes to the brain's electrical activity in response to stimuli, there is considerable evidence for differences in autistic individuals with respect to <b>attention, orientiation to auditory and visual stimuli, novelty detection, language and face processing,</b> and information storage; several studies have found a preference for non-social stimuli.</p>

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SEE Weak Central Coherence Theory below node.</p>

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