Autism and Neuropsychology, by Marisa Marzillo

Autism is a lifelong disorder that has become the discussion of many media outlets; it is a disorder that causes abnormal neurological development. It seems that lately autism prevalence is increasing, which is causing a demand for professionals to investigate on what causes autism.  Autism disorder is characterized by different behavior including social impairments, difficulty in communication, and restrictive patterns of behavior. Individuals living with autism don’t have a lower IQ than most people, but it is common that they have weak social interaction. Researchers have stated that it is unclear what causes autism; it ranges from environmental surroundings to a strain on normal brain development. The three main subjects that researchers have said are a cause of autism are brain development, genes, and environmental.

What I find interesting about autism is that there it solely diagnosed by behavioral activity. There is no real test for brain scans and blood test that will determine whether an individual has autism or not. Because there are no medical tests to diagnose autism, a team of doctors, which typically includes psychologists and neurologists, studies the social interaction and communication skills of the individual. While there is a set list of behaviors that could be described as a result of autism, these behaviors can often get mixed up with symptoms for other diseases, such as mental retardation. Obviously, being able to figure out where autism stems from-whether it is environmental, brain development, or genes-would make diagnosing it a lot easier.

In an article Elizabeth Lynch (2010) described autism as a “lifelong developmental disability that affects the way an individual relates to others. It affects one in 100 people and is a spectrum condition--there are core features in common, but the condition will affect individuals in different ways” (p.18).  As stated, researchers are not positive on what causes autism, some even claiming that autism is curable. However, Sigel, Ihle, Marco, and Hendren (2010) states that “most autism researchers accept a theory of etiology that starts with a genetic neurodevelopment vulnerability combined with an environmental stressor through such epigenetic processes as immune function” (p.33).  Essentially, some research shows that autism is cause by a combination of environment, genes, and brain development. The issue that researchers have with believing that autism is linked to brain development is that there is no real scientific evidence of this.

One explanation for the link between autism and brain development is mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are active during preparation for a movement, and while watching someone else perform a similar movement. Mirror neurons were first discovered in the pre-motor cortex of monkeys, and then again later in several other species. The main idea behind mirror neurons are that they could be important in understand people, being empathetic, and imitating them. Individuals with autism tend to have a more difficult time identifying with other people, while children with autism are hardly recorded imitating other people. It is believed that the lack of social skills could be a reaction to an absence of mirror neurons. This explanation seems logical; however, again there is no real evidence that shows that individuals with autism have the lack of mirror neurons (Kalat, 2009, p. 237).

A theory that I found interesting was one that pointed out the autism is more common in males. Badcock and Crespi (2006) discuss the extreme male brain theory of autism. "In his original 1944 report, Asperger suggested that the autistic personality is an extreme variant of male intelligence. This theory suggests that females are generally more empathetic and males are more systematic in their cognitive style" (p. 1009). The differences between men and women are generally well-known, and it is explained in the article that most individuals with autism have a high systematic, but low empathy. "The finding that prenatal exposure to male sex hormones is associated with two cognitive characteristics commonly found in autism: poorer quality of social relationships and more restricted interests, particularly in boys" (Badcock et al, 2006, p.1009). The theory suggests that autism is essentially just an extreme version of the male brain. The extreme male brain theory of autism matches mentality deficits of autism (along with the occasional mechanistic compensations) to normal sex differences, and helps in explaining the striking male sex ratio bias in autism" (Badcock et al, 2006, p. 1009). Though this could be an explanation for why autism tends to effect males more than it does females, there are some loop holes in the theory. There are certain behaviors that cannot be explained by this theory, which is why some researchers find it hard to back up.

Being educated on what the cause of autism is will help people to be more aware one of the symptoms and how to get their children help. There is currently a lot of focus of autism, in the news, magazines, and it seems to be increasing with children. It can consist of setbacks in numerous areas of functioning, including social skills, communication skills, motor skills, and overall intellectual capability. If researchers are able to locate what precisely causes autism, it would be much easier to diagnose and treat.

References

Badcock, C., & Crespi, B. (July 2006). Imbalanced genomic imprinting in brain development: an   evolutionary basis for the aetiology of autism. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19(4), p. 1007- 1032. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Academic Search Premier Database via Ebscohost: http://web.ebscohost.com

Lynch, E. (Sept 15, 2010). Making sense of autism: insufficient mental health support for children with autism is holding back their recovery.  Nursing Standard, 25, 2. p.18. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com

Manente, C., Maraventano, J., LaRue, R., Delmolino, L., & Sloan, D. (Jan 2010). Effective Behavioral Intervention for Adults on the Autism Spectrum: Best Practices in Functional Assessment and Treatment Development. Behavior Analyst Today, 11(1), p.36-48. Retrieved October 22, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database via Ebscohost:

http://web.ebscohost.com

Moss, J., & Howlin, P. (Oct 2009). Autism spectrum disorders in genetic syndromes: implications for diagnosis, intervention and understanding the wider autism spectrum disorder population. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 53(10), p.852-873. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Academic Search Premier Database via Ebscohost:

http://web.ebscohost.com

Siegel, B., Ihle, E., Marco, E., & Hendren, R L (Oct 2010). Update on autism: issues in treatment and comorbidity.  Psychiatric Times, 27, 10. p.33(2). Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com

Watson, L R, Baranek, G T, Roberts, J E, David, F J, & Perryman, T Y (August 2010). Behavioral and physiological responses to child-directed speech as predictors of communication outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorders.  Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53, 4. p.1052(13). Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com

Autism and brain's immune system linked, says study.  (Feb 2005). AORN Journal, 81, 2. p.341(1). Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com