Difference in brain regions bet'n ASD vs. NT?

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Has anyone studied anything about neurology wiring? I don't mean at the doctorate level, but just the fundamentals... and specifically whether you noted anything about ASD/HFA vs. NT brain region "light-up" or functional resonance differences. I'm talking more about the HFA comparison (f.k.a. Aspergers) versus neurotypical brain region use.

I know that, for instance, there's the basal ganglia which I understand is more involved in multi-tasking or sorting out competing stimuli to allocate priority response, and the irregularities in this region might explain our trouble with executive functioning, not knowing which cues or stimuli are the most important ones, how to "read the room" instinctively and respond accordingly, and so forth. This irregularity may also explain why the "NT formula" of 58% of communication being non-verbal, 35% being tone of voice, and 7% the actual words is natural to them - whereas for Aspies these numbers are something more like 20/20/60 well, at least, under our "default operating system" before we get more insight into our difference and take measures to adapt better.

So of course empathy and mirroring are impaired - another region that I know to be irregular in Aspie brains is the amygdala, which is what causes us to avoid eye contact b/c it seems overwhelming or frightening to take in that much sensory input (probably exacerbated into a vicious circle in our youth, b/c we were so accustomed to getting negative reactions from people) - luckily I overcame this too, but I don't know if my amygdala shrunk to "normal" again. I also had mild-moderate PTSD after a school from hell in Grade 9.
Whereas for those on the "sociopathy spectrum", the amygdala is shrunken, so they are less fearful or shy, and more gregarious and have less hesitation about manipulating and abusing people and making enemies from it.
Come to think of it, sociopaths on the whole have different brain region resonance than "true NTs", yet they're able to mask and blend in...at least at first and for a while...

Anecdote alert:

Since my late 20s soon after I was diagnosed in 2001, I got much better at masking and passing for normal, with little indication of suspicion - except at times in the workplace when I focused on details instead of the "big picture", which I didn't realize was one of the quirks of Aspergers until I researched it further and read that book "Aspergers in the Workplace" by Barbara Bissonnette. At least I had more fluent nonverbal communication and seldom made social blunders as compared to before, thanks to rigourous research, mirror practice, therapy, and friend feedback.

But: despite all that, one interesting experiment that would be interesting to conduct would be myself interacting with others, would the same brain regions light up to the same degree as my NT interlocutor?? I don't know. I don't think much research has been done on this, in terms of live psycho-social experiments.

I remember reading the book "Blink", by Malcolm Gladwell, about how some experimenters used some kind of eye-movement tracking device in a somewhat emotionally tense scene, where the NT's gaze would shift back and forth between the faces of the people involved and would form a "perfect triangle", whereas the AS subject's gaze would just kind of "gloss over" with no coherent pattern. By the time I read this in 2014, however, my response to such a situation would've matched an NT's. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say

They say that due to neuroplasticity, the brain can rewire itself to overcome damaged regions, but I think that might be more in the case of, say, NTs who suffered a TBI in a horrific accident; at least they'd have some memory of their "NT-ness" before the accident, and would be able to more easily "rewire" from point A to Z then we would, b/c we have no intrinsic idea of what "Z" is like, only the bewildering array of NT behaviours that we have to make sense of.

Unsubstantiated, at best; utterly bogus, at worst.

The "theory" is not supported by the evidence.  In fact, there is no known biological basis that is clearly definitive of autism at all.  True, some studies have indicated certain tendencies in neurological functioning or structure, but often these findings are based on very small samples and are not reproduced; and in fact, each autistic brain is unique, rather than being the same as other autistic brains.  Although there are very general population tendencies when it comes to autism, there is nothing like an essential, defining neurological or genetic marker shared by all autistic people as individuals.  So the claim that any two autistic people share the same "wiring" as each other, unless they have somehow gone to a lab and been tested to verify this, is unsupported by science.

Well, I was speaking in broad generalities...on average, within each group, the size or stimulated activity of a given brain region is diminished in an ASD group versus an NT one.
There was nothing to suggest that two autistic people had exactly the same wiring.
The point is, that while yes, each autistic individual has differences in wiring, they are each discernibly more different than the [average] neurotypical brain wiring.

Please link to medical references.

From what I know, the cortex is thicker and the cerebellum is smaller.

OK, *that* is the sort of response I was hoping for.
thank you!!

Again, what I suggested earlier still holds...it would be interesting if we could get some sort of neuro-feedback to gauge level of improvement (read: brain regions responding in way more similar to NTs) - but this is clearly a hypothetical, because to measure something is to influence it, it's no longer a spontaneous interaction.
Also, this thought is not intended as an affront as it's a sensitive and ethical issue...but IME, I've found that consciously & gradually adapting more to NT thought patterns has saved me a lot of negative reactions like bullying, condescension, exasperation, etc.
Yes, some might think "it's not fair" and we should have the liberty to be our raw authentic selves, but the world wasn't meant to be fair to us.
But I digress.
As a last thought, which may or may not suggest alignment to an NT's brain region resonance... last year I took an online test with 40 facial expressions, shown one at a time, and I had to pick between four multiple choice answers (which tended to be closely related, e.g. contempt, disgust, anger, sarcasm) in only a few seconds, and guess what? I got 34/40 right, or 85%, and the statement at the end said "you have excellent emotional intelligence".

I read somewhere that autistics have a different frontal brain wiring that makes their foreheads larger, but I don't believe this is true because I know some NTs with large foreheads, and my forehead is not large at all, quite the opposite actually.

There are probably many “autisms”, in a recent study by the Simons foundation, they found brain structural differences start to show in ASD 2 & 3, but less so with Asperger’s.

There is no official scientific consensus on what autism is, it’s mechanics or causes.

However, a neuroscientist by the name of Dr Manuel Casanova studied post mortem donated brains under the microscope from some people who had autism (severity not given).

He found abnormally shaped minicolumns in the cerebral cortex. In extreme layman’s language these mini columns are highways where signals travel. These columns or highways are poorly insulated and too tightly packed in autistic brains examined, meaning a signal destined for one ends up in another. A type of short circuit. These lead to many of the symptoms found in autism.

Of course, I’m not sure if he studied aspie brains with that batch examined.

The reason I trust his findings is not only is he a neuro scientist who`s actually examined physical brains, his findings have been corroborated in other separate studies elsewhere.

Also, with him it was personal. His grandson had severe autism and a genetic fault and it was evident he was devoting a lot of energy & time to helping him somehow, unlike others possibly motivated by trying to make a name for themselves or big pharma selling something.

Sadly, in vain as he died a few months ago, I think before his 10th birthday.

You can read details of his findings on his blog here: -

https://corticalchauvinism.com/2013/01/ ... sm-part-1/

Another simple explanation of the same findings elsewhere:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0u7ynQ5kgk