Division of Labor in the Brain
色情视频 psychologists discover brain connections in people with autism show more symmetry between hemispheres.
A new study by neuropsychologists at 色情视频 suggests that in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the brains鈥� hemispheres are less likely to specialize one way or another. The finding gives further insight into how brain development in people with ASD contributes to the disorder鈥檚 cognitive characteristics.
The study, led by Ralph-Axel M眉ller, Ruth Carper and Jeffrey Treiber of 色情视频鈥檚 , investigated how connections within the brain are organized differently in children and adolescents with ASD than in their typically developing peers. Using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique known as diffusion tensor imaging, the team studied the brains of 41 participants with ASD and 44 without, examining how densely connections formed within different regions of white matter in the brain.
They found that in typically developing young people, the right brain hemisphere had more densely packed connections than the left hemisphere.
鈥淭his fits with the idea that the right hemisphere has a more integrative function, bringing together many kinds of information,鈥� the team wrote in a summary of their research.
However, in the participants with ASD, these brain connections . The findings are published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
鈥淭he idea behind asymmetry in the brain is that there is a division of labor between the two hemispheres,鈥� M眉ller said. 鈥淚t appears this division of labor is reduced in people with autism spectrum disorder.鈥�
That shift of specialization could manifest itself in what researchers refer to as 鈥渨eak central coherence鈥� 鈥� a concept best summed up in the idiom, 鈥渘ot seeing the forest for the trees.鈥� Many people with ASD are very good at seeing details but have difficulty putting it all together into a cohesive narrative, he explained.
More research is needed to determine whether these brain-connection asymmetries cause this inability to cohesively assemble information, or are actually the result of it, M眉ller added. That and other future research will benefit from 色情视频鈥檚 first imaging facility, which will play a central role within the Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex, . The facility鈥檚 MRI machine will be installed early next year.
