Question #1
Information processing in autism?
Information processing in autism is obviously different than a neurotypical. Several theories have been proposed to explain why this is. They include:
· The large brain size in autism suggests that not just one location in the brain but a pervasive abnormality affects the way the way information is processed (Herbert & Kenet,2007). There are also several specific structures of the brain that affect the way information is processed in individuals with an ASD (ie. the frontal cortex, gyrus, temporal lobe, limbic system, cerebellum).
· Frith (1989), coined the term weak central coherence (WCC). This style of information processing suggests that neurotypicals use central coherence to process and interpret information in a global or gestalt approach. Meanwhile individuals with ASD process information in a peripheral coherence and as a result have only separate pieces of unrelated information available to use when processing.
· Gomet (2005), used an fMRI study and demonstrated that as a processing load is placed on children with autism the breakdown increases. This may explain why there is a tendency with autism to ignore novel stimuli and be resistant to change.
· Research has shown differences in the way the nervous system processes and responds to information through neurotransmitters and neuromodulators of persons with ASD and neurotypicals. This is an integral part of the communication system and can have a huge impact on arousal level, GABA (responsible for information processing), motor activity, motivation, cognition, and sensory processing, (Miller-Kuhaneck, 2010). These areas affected will all contribute to altered behavior which directly tie into a persons ability to process information.
References
Frith,U. (1989). Autism:Explaining the enigma. Oxford:Blackwell
Gomot,M.(2006).Change detection in children with autism: An auditory event-related fMRI study. NeuroImage 29 (2006).475-484.
Herbert,M.R.,& Kenet, T. (2007). Brain abnormalities in language disorders and in autism. Pediatric Clinics of north America,54(3),563-583.
References
Frith,U. (1989). Autism:Explaining the enigma. Oxford:Blackwell
Gomot,M.(2006).Change detection in children with autism: An auditory event-related fMRI study. NeuroImage 29 (2006).475-484.
Herbert,M.R.,& Kenet, T. (2007). Brain abnormalities in language disorders and in autism. Pediatric Clinics of north America,54(3),563-583.
HI, Elaine - Thanks for a good start to your blog with an overview -- Betrone, et al, also talk about information processing being impaired as a function of neurological complexity for processing - http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/128/10/2430.abstract -- this has meaning to OTs with respect to tailoring tasks to reduce the complexity and multistep neurological processing of activities to increase the likelihood of processing (and then learning) information...
ReplyDeleteanother interesting discussion you may want to include in future posts is by Minshew, et al, who founds that "The neuropsychologic profile in these autistic individuals was defined by impairments in skilled motor, complex memory, complex language, and reasoning domains, and by intact or superior performance in the attention, simple memory, simple language, and visual–spatial domains. "http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=49153
will look forward to your next post!
Amy
Hi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI have a question, on the Gomet (2005) study, did the fMRI showed break down of what exactly when processing? I feel like I should know this, but I am a little unclear.
Thanks!
Jen
Thanks for the post. When I answered the neuro question in module 1, I was fascinated with all the info but felt overwhelmed because it was so much and always depended on where the child was developmentally/chronological age. Since we are dynamic people, it is no surprise that it is always changing.
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteThat was a very interesting outline on research into information processing in Autism. Thank you. So many brain systems seem to be altered in ASD's. The more I read about ASD's the more complex and mysterious they seem to be.