what have we found? where are we going? elizabeth redcay, ph.d. braintrust autism lecture november...

Autism ResearchWhat have we found? Where are we going?

Elizabeth Redcay, Ph.D.BrainTrust Autism LectureNovember 12, 2009

Outline

Overview of Current Directions

Highlight Two of Current Directions

Future Directions

Current Directions

1. Autism is heterogeneous

2. Autism is a systems disorder

3. Autistic individuals show enhanced

perceptual processing

4. Autism is a developmental disorder

5. ‘Can vs. do’: Autistic individuals can do

more than they do do

2. Autism is a systems disorder

I. Overview of Current Directions

Belmonte et al., 2004

AutismControl

3. Autism is characterized by enhanced as well as impaired abilities

Emphasis on deficits in social and language domains

Enhanced perceptual processing

I. Overview of Current Directions

4. Autism is a developmental disorder

Autism emerges early

Majority of brain studies conducted on adults

I. Overview of Current Directions

Brain Size Differences are Maximal in First Few Years of Life in Autism

II. Highlight: Developmental Disorder

Inconsistent differences in Amygdala Volume

Slide courtesy of Cindy Schumann

II. Highlight: Developmental Disorder

Amygdala volume changes by age

Schumann et al., 2004

II. Highlight: Developmental Disorder

4. Developmental: Summary

The typical child undergoes protracted brain growth

Brain growth in autism is too fast too early

II. Highlight: Developmental Disorder

5. Can vs. Do

Real-world impairments in social interaction

Implicit (passive) studies reveal differences in ‘social brain’ areas

Explicit studies often do not Salient in social domains: face

perception, self-reflection, irony comprehension, theory of mind

I. Overview of Current Directions

Can vs. Do: Face Perception

Fus

II. Highlight: Can vs Do

> =Fusiform Face Area

Control ASD

Pierce et al., 2001

Can vs. Do: Face Perception

Fus

II. Highlight: Can vs Do

> =Fusiform Face Area

Control ASD

Pierce et al., 2004

Can vs. do: Irony Comprehension

II. Highlight: Can vs Do

CON

ASD

Can vs. do: Irony Comprehension

II. Highlight: Can vs Do

Neutral Instructions

Explicit Instructions

CON

ASD

Can vs. do: Theory of Mind

II. Highlight: Can vs Do Senju et al., 2009

Can vs. do: Theory of Mind

EXPLICIT

Where will Sally look?

Asp and Con give correct answer (where she thinks it is)

IMPLICIT

Spontaneous looking differs

II. Highlight: Can vs Do

Senju et al., 2009

4. Can vs Do: Summary

Engaging in social cognition is automatic for typical individuals

This spontaneous engagement is widely absent in ASD

Explicit social cognition can be elicited In some cases the appropriate brain

regions supporting these functions are recruited

Critical in understanding and designing future studies of ASD

II. Highlight: Developmental Disorder

Outline

Overview of Current Directions

Highlight Two of Current Directions Autism is a developmental disorder Can vs. Do

Future Directions

✓

✓

Future Directions

Early ages and developmental change

Connectivity between regions

More naturalistic experiments

Links between genes, brain, and behavior

III. Future Directions

Thank you!

1. Autism is heterogeneous

Behaviorally Severely mentally retarded to

exceptionally bright Genetically

Highly heritable Polygenic disorder

Neurologically Between-subject differences large

I. Overview of Current Directions