Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Brain
"A lot of literature on autism says that the brain of a child on the spectrum is 'wired differently'. Can you elaborate of this difference?" Over the past few years, a number of studies have been published linking differences in brain structure and function to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). For example, researchers have noted that: At a certain point in post-natal development, ASD brains are larger Certain parts of the brain may function differently in ASD children Certain portions of the brain, such as the amygdala, may be enlarged in ASD brains “Minicolumns” in the brain may be formed differently and be more numerous in ASD brains Testosterone may be linked to ASD The entire brain may function differently in ASD children What all of these brain findings have in common is that they point to ASD as a disorder of the cortex. The cortex is the proverbial "gray matter" (i.e., the part of the brain which is largely responsible for higher brai