Psi XPerience moved to fernandotarnogol.com

Autism Disorder is one of the most elussive conditions a mental health professional can come across. Firstly, it is difficult to precisely diagnose due to it´s broad severity spectrum (depending on very subtle manifestations and timing of the condition it could be filed under Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome. And sometimes this subtle differences are too subtle). Secondly, because there are still no definitive answers regarding its causes, though recent discoveries in neuroscience are starting to shed new light. Third, because detection can only be made in infants from the first year until the end of the third year. And finally, because young people who suffer from autism are the most difficult population to approach (in a clinical way) thus complicating not only the task of diagnosing but also treating.

Yesterday i came across in physorg.com a new discovery using magnetic resonance imaging. A group of people with autism disorder was scanned while they were playing an economic interactive-social game. It was found that a specific region of the brain (the cingulate cortex) had less activity in the group of teenagers with autism compared to the control group (non autistic individuals). The cerebral activity in the former group was inversely proportional to the severity of the disorder (less activity, more severe autism).

The aformentioned region of the brain is associated with the ’self ‘ response. This in some way means that the place where the ’self awareness’ is located was found (at least in a very rudimentary way).

The most easily perceived signature of autism is a lock-down of the person´s mind which handicaps (in various degrees) their ability to interact socially with other people. That´s why this discovery could lead to new ways of diagnosing and treating this condition in the future.

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