MRI "Study" Supports Intense World Theory

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ASPartOfMe
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20 Jun 2017, 4:04 am

Excuse Me For Looking Away, My Brain Is Too Excited: Understanding the "Averted Gaze" of Autism

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Researchers at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital found that no, people with ASD aren't being rude nor are they distracted. Instead, they are overwhelmed with information.
The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Study author Dr. Nouchine Hadjikhani instructed the ASD subjects to look at faces, constraining their gaze to the eyes. In another condition, participants were instructed to "free" their gaze and look wherever they wished.
The result was clear: the regions of the brain involving face perception were overactive during the "constrained" gaze condition, especially for faces that reflected fear.

This is important when understanding autism. "The findings demonstrate that, contrary to what has been thought, the apparent lack of interpersonal interest among people with autism is not due to a lack of concern," says Dr. Hadjikhani. "Rather, our results show that this behavior is a way to decrease an unpleasant excessive arousal stemming from overactivation in a particular part of the brain."

"The findings indicate that forcing children with autism to look into someone's eyes in behavioral therapy may create a lot of anxiety for them," says Hadjikhani. "An approach involving slow habituation to eye contact may help them overcome this overreaction and be able to handle eye contact in the long run, thereby avoiding the cascading effects that this eye-avoidance has on the development of the social brain


As much as I agree with the conclusions and the atypical approach to research there is no information about the study at all. Until that is produced I have to conclude this is just more quackery.


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kraftiekortie
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20 Jun 2017, 9:05 am

Anecdotally, when there's too much information coming my way, I tend to panic and probably might seem "rude" to some people.

I do believe in the "Intense World Theory." I live it.



friedmacguffins
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20 Jun 2017, 10:58 am

I feel very much engaged, and notice more detail than people around me. I don't find anything controversial, in saying that is supposed to require more down-time.

I think, MRI was going to be the next step, after CT scan. I was being asked some questions about sensory and processing and reflexes.

It's possible that ambidextrous, opposite-footed people are getting told, early-on, that they have tardive dyskinesia, but could grow up, to be extra-coordinated. You can say that someone is detached, or is he prioritizing and systematic. I feel that alot of these issues are being discussed, not in their own light, but with negative connotations.

Athinoula A. Martinos Center is being descriptive, without saying you are flawed, imo.



ASPartOfMe
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21 Jun 2017, 12:40 am

Some information about the study

For Those With Autism, Eye Contact Isn't Just Weird, It's Distressing "It burns."

Quote:
Specifically, the researchers looked to a part of the brain called the subcortical system, a variety of structures that integrates information from the outer cortex with the peripheral senses to give rise to movements and other behaviors

Within this system are pathways that carry visual information from the eyes to parts of the brain that stimulate emotions, and helps newborn babies recognise and turn to familiar faces and influence a range of other social actions.

Previous research on whether this part of the brain was overactive in people with ASD produced mixed results, possibly over confusion whether subjects actually looked at the eyes in the faces used in the studies.

To address this conflict, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure differences in the activation of the parts of the subcortical system responsible for processing faces in 23 adult and child volunteers with ASD and 20 controls.

The participants all received scans as they watched two versions of clips of faces displaying emotions such as fear, anger, or happiness; one normal, and another with a red cross between the eyes to attract attention.

While the face-recognition subcortical region was active in both groups, the areas were highly active in those with ASD when they were forced to focus around the eye region, especially when the faces expressed fear.


As usual still a small sample. Hopefully this can be replicated with a larger sample size.


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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman