Autism wreaks greater havoc on the brain than previously believed, a study, by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers, has found. Besides social and developmental problems, autism affects sensory and motor functions, cognitive and attention skills, language and even the ability to process information using different parts of the brain.
This is why even well-functioning autistic children are unable to perform complex tasks. Traditional beliefs hold that the developmental disorder damages brain regions that are responsible for social interaction, reasoning and communication.
Under the neuropsychological study, the researchers, Dr Nancy Minshew, Diane Williams and Gerald Goldstein, studied 56 well-functioning autistic children aged between eight and 15 years and having IQs of 80 and above. Funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health, the study required the autistic children to perform numerous tasks like tie their shoelaces, make drawings on a paper using a pencil, and explain a figure of speech, among others.
The results of the tests were then compared with those conducted on normal children of the same age group having similar IQ levels. The researchers found that the autistic children exhibited inability to perform complex tasks that involved different parts of the brain. They, however, managed to perform basic tasks much like their normal counterparts. The autistic children could read and write but were unable to break down complex problems and solve them. “We see this with our patients. If you use an expression like 'hop to it', a child with autism may literally hop. (Autism) affects a broad range of abilities…” Dr Minshew said.
Lauding the study, NICHD director Duane Alexander said the results could go a long way in finding therapies to help autistics. “These findings suggest that a further understanding of autism will likely come not from the study of factors affecting one brain area or system, but from the study of factors affecting many systems,” she said, adding, “This is a big change in the way most people have thought about autism.”
Diane Williams, the co-author of the study, felt that medical experts working in the field of autism have to 'realize that autism is more than a social disorder'. “Just teaching the children social rules will only deal with a piece of what is going on. It really is at the level of how the brain handles incoming information of all types. You need to pre-process information for them, break it down for them, help them to understand what is the most important, and help make the connections for them, because they will not get it themselves,” Williams said.
Autism Research Center spokesman Simon Baron Cohen said the study takes the focus away from the traditional beliefs involving the disorder. “The social difficulties have received a great deal of research attention but this new study reminds us that the causes of autism have more pervasive effects,” he said.
The findings of the study have been published in
Child Neuropsychology. As many as one in every 166 children born in the United States are autistic. Recently, the disorder, marked by inability to process information and adapt to changes or uncertainties, has shown an upward trend. US Department of Education data shows that the incidence of autism is increasing among 3- to 5-year-olds. In 2004-05, around 3,178 children were diagnosed with autism, a disorder that affects around 500,000 people in US alone. According to estimates, the number of autistic children in America might hit four million in the next 10 years.
