Lynn K. Paul & Christina Corsello & Daniel Tranel & Ralph Adolphs (2010). Does bilateral damage to the human amygdala produce autistic symptoms? Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2, 165-173.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Does bilateral damage to the human amygdala produce autistic symptoms?
Past studies have shown that bilateral damage to the amygdala produces autistic symptoms in previously-normal individuals. These symptoms include impaired recognition of emotion in others, lack of theory of mind, and the inability to retain eye contact with others. The purpose of the current study was to actually quantify these autistic symptoms in amygdala-damaged patients to see if the patients would meet criteria for autism. Several diagnostic scales were used that are typical in the process of diagnosing children suspected to have autism. In the current study, neither of the two amygdala patients met criteria for autism, which shows that amygdala damage in itself is not enough to produce the symptoms that would make someone meet criteria for an autism spectrum disorder. Instead, it is possible that those with autism may have abnormal connectivity in their brains between the amygdala and other brain structures. This finding is important because it highlights the fact that one brain structure is rarely implicated in a particular disease or disorder. Instead, it is often the case that entire networks are at play.
Lynn K. Paul & Christina Corsello & Daniel Tranel & Ralph Adolphs (2010). Does bilateral damage to the human amygdala produce autistic symptoms? Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2, 165-173.
Lynn K. Paul & Christina Corsello & Daniel Tranel & Ralph Adolphs (2010). Does bilateral damage to the human amygdala produce autistic symptoms? Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2, 165-173.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with you that the most important emphasis of the article that of the profound interconnectivity of the brain such that damage to one structure, while producing significant maladaptive symptoms, is not enough to result in a complex disorder. Autism (despite what the popular media wishes it to be) is clearly the product of numerous environmental and genetic factors resulting in numerous abnormalities in the brain. The fact that its specific causes and workings have been so elusive up to this point serve to prove that. It is of great interest, however, that amygdala lesions were so productive of autistic symptoms. That structure clearly plays a sophisticated role in the disorder.
ReplyDelete