{"id":119,"date":"2015-11-22T04:37:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T04:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroe\/?p=119"},"modified":"2015-11-22T04:37:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-22T04:37:10","slug":"autism-through-the-eyes-of-a-savant-when-a-disorder-becomes-a-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroe\/2015\/11\/22\/autism-through-the-eyes-of-a-savant-when-a-disorder-becomes-a-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Autism Through the Eyes of a Savant: When a Disorder Becomes a Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"download\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Autism: What Is It?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Autism. \u00a0A disorder that has run the gamut of titles, symptoms, and diagnoses, yet still seems to elude doctors and scientists as to its cause and origin. \u00a0The cause of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may be unknown, but its characteristics include difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors, all in varying degrees. \u00a0From an early age, children with ASD may become overly focused on certain objects, may fail to engage in typical babbling with their parents, and rarely make eye contact. \u00a0Currently, all autistic disorders have been merged under the umbrella of ASD. Previously, the DSM featured distinct sub-types of Autism, including childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger syndrome. \u00a0Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 68 children in America as on the autism spectrum. \u00a0This is a 10x increase in prevalence in 40 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Autism-Spectrum-Disorder\"<\/a>

Figure 1 displays the current Autistic Spectrum Disorder umbrella and all of the previous autism sub-types that are now within this umbrella.<\/p><\/div>\n

ASD: What do we know?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Risk Factors<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

While a precise cause of ASD remains unidentified, there are a number of risk factors that, in combination with a genetic predisposition, seem to further increase the probability of developing ASD symptomatology. \u00a0The most evidentially supported of these ASD risk factors involves events before and during birth such as older maternal age during pregnancy and the occurrence of oxygen deprivation to the brain during birth.<\/p>\n

Symptomatology<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The most easily recognizable symptoms of ASD, such as lack of eye contact, occur within social settings. \u00a0Specific social deficits include false belief, a lack of empathizing, difficulty regarding social interaction, and the inability to detect intentionality from eye gaze. \u00a0With each deficit is a proposed theory as well as associated brain regions. However, though previous research supports the associated brain regions as potentially explanatory for the theories, no single theory has acquired enough support to implicate with finality that these regions are where ASD originates. \u00a0These theories regarding underlying neural irregularities or impairments are based upon behavioral deficit characteristics of ASD. \u00a0There is no specific biological markers identified for ASD which makes it impossible to detect it before birth. The following chart provides the specific deficits of ASD, the proposed causal theories, as well as the brain regions that are associated with each deficit:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ASD Deficits, Theories, and Associated Brain Regions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Deficit<\/th>Proposed Theory<\/th>Associated Brain Region<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
False Belief:
\nASD propagates failure to understand that another individual can hold a belief that differs from physical reality.
\n<\/td>		Executive Function irregularity or impairment is underlying neural system primarily responsible for mental, intellectual, or cognitive ASD symptomatology.<\/td>A] Prefrontal Cortex (PFC):
\n[a] Ventro-Lateral PFC.
\n[b] Dorso-Lateral PFC.
\n[c] Anterior PFC.
\n[d] Orbito-Frontal Cortex.
\n[B] Anterior Cingulate.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lack of Empathizing ability, resulting in Selective Mentalizing.
\nExample: ASD propagates failure to understand false beliefs, but does not inhibit understanding false photographs.<\/td>		Theory-of-Mind Account of ASD.
\nTheory-of-Mind: ability to represent mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) of others<\/td>		[A] Temporal Poles:
\nTypically activated during tasks requiring Language and Semantic Memory.
\nResponds more to comparisons between social concepts than non-social concepts.
\n[B] Medial Prefrontal Cortex (PFC):
\nResponds more to thinking about people than other entities, living or nonliving.
\n[C] Temporal-Parietal Junction:
\nPerception of biological motion, eye gaze, mouth moving important to detection of \u201cagents\u201d and processing of \u201cagent\u201d actions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
General Social Deficit.
\nASD: presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communication, and a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests. <\/td>		Broken-Mirror Theory: account of ASD in which social difficulties considered as consequence of mirror-system dysfunction.<\/td>[A] Mirror-System: neural circuits or regions that disregard distinction between self and other.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Detection and Utilization of Eye Gaze Information.
\nASD inhibits ability to infer behavior or desire from Eye Gaze direction, though ability to determine physical direction of Eye Gaze is not impaired.<\/td>		Eye Gaze processing deficit manifests as an absence of joint attention regarding social interaction.<\/td>[A] Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS).
\nContains cells which respond to eye direction.
\nComponent of the \u201cCore System\u201d of Face Processing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

All that said, deficits, theories, and proposed affected brain regions are NOT mutually exclusive. Additionally, ASD is a complicated disorder; no single theory is considered most probable, though the Broken-Mirror Theory is continuously accumulating supporting evidence. While the brain regions provided may be those primarily causing major symptoms, it is highly unlikely that all ASD symptomatology can be attributed exclusively to these regions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prevention and Helpful Tips<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There is research which suggests that women can decrease their risk of having a child with ASD by taking prenatal vitamins containing folic acid. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Groups such as Autism Speaks are promoting awareness and investigation regarding the role of the immune system in ASD. Some helpful tips to follow in regards to parenting a child with ASD \u00a0include the following: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Provide structure and safety<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Find nonverbal ways to connect<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Create a personalized ASD treatment plan<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Find help and support<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ASD + Savant Skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

    While ASD can be socially debilitating, savant skills can also co-occur. \u00a0Savant skills can manifest into Savant Syndrome which is characterized by extreme capability ranging from incredibly specific to vastly broad, usually regarding one specific category, which differs depending on the individual. \u00a0Therefore, savant syndrome cannot be attributed to any particular region of the brain, though it has been hypothesized that savant skills tend to be right hemisphere dominant (non-symbolic, artistic, concrete, direct perceived). \u00a0Savant syndrome and ASD are not mutually exclusive, however, it has been found that 50% of people with Savant syndrome also have ASD. \u00a0The most prominent skill subsets include music, art, calendar calculating, mathematics, and mechanical or spatial skills. \u00a0Not only are the specific skills dependent upon the person, but the degree of mastery and detail also varies. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Savant Skill Subsets<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Some may have what are called \u201csplinter skills\u201d which includes obsessive preoccupation with and memorization of relatively trivial facts and skills such as sports statistics, license plate numbers, and even obscure things such as being able to reproduce the sounds that a vacuum cleaner makes. \u00a0This is the most common savant subtype and even neurotypical brains can display this type of specified skill interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Others may be deemed \u201ctalented savants\u201d by their particularly prominent musical or artistic abilities despite their cognitive impairment. \u00a0The skill is usually within an area of single expertise and stands out conspicuously, relative to the cognitive impairment\u2019s overall effect. \u00a0A present day example of this type of savant is Stephen Wiltshire, aka: the human camera. \u00a0Wiltshire is capable of accurately drawing intensely detailed landscapes of a city after seeing it once. \u00a0The remarkable part is that as a young child he was mute and was diagnosed with ASD. \u00a0He was placed in a special school and discovered his love for painting and learned to communicate through art. \u00a0The following video shows just how extraordinary Stephen is.<\/span><\/p>\n