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autistic time
2019-Feb-17, Sunday 11:22 amI've said since 2004 that I suspect a fundamental issue with the experience of time is at fault in the brains of some people with autism. I learned today of what may be the first experimental evidence of this feature.
Researchers compared MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) results between autistics ("high functioning") with neurotypicals, both adults and children, in a resting state. They found similar and expected patterns of activity in some brain areas, but they found one area where more severe autism effects were correlated with different time scales of brain processing. That area was the right caudate, a brain region involved in language, emotion, sleep, and executive function.
This observation is close enough to my earlier descriptions that it gives me hope. I expect that future research will justify my early subjective impressions.
"Future studies should investigate whether the differences in brain activity cause the symptoms of autism. If so, it may be possible to treat the symptoms by changing brain activity, for example, by applying magnetic stimulation to the scalp."
- https://elifesciences.org/articles/42256
I maintain, however, that it would be more ethically appropriate to first try developing a visual language rather than just immediately trying to directly change brain processing. Still, though, perhaps some currently nonverbal autistics might welcome the opportunity to process language the way that most people do it, rather than requiring direct assistance for communication. If such therapies prove effective, it will quickly spawn a discussion similar to the Deaf/hearing one in relation to learning Sign language versus verbal speech.
Recommended relevant fiction: "Speed Of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon
Researchers compared MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) results between autistics ("high functioning") with neurotypicals, both adults and children, in a resting state. They found similar and expected patterns of activity in some brain areas, but they found one area where more severe autism effects were correlated with different time scales of brain processing. That area was the right caudate, a brain region involved in language, emotion, sleep, and executive function.
"... this is one of the first indications that small-scale temporal dynamics could have an outsized effect."
"The neural timescale is a measure of how predictable the activity is in a given brain region. The shorter timescales we observed in the autistic individuals suggest their brains have trouble holding onto and processing sensory input for as long as neurotypical people"
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190213090814.htm
"The neural timescale is a measure of how predictable the activity is in a given brain region. The shorter timescales we observed in the autistic individuals suggest their brains have trouble holding onto and processing sensory input for as long as neurotypical people"
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190213090814.htm
This observation is close enough to my earlier descriptions that it gives me hope. I expect that future research will justify my early subjective impressions.
"Future studies should investigate whether the differences in brain activity cause the symptoms of autism. If so, it may be possible to treat the symptoms by changing brain activity, for example, by applying magnetic stimulation to the scalp."
- https://elifesciences.org/articles/42256
I maintain, however, that it would be more ethically appropriate to first try developing a visual language rather than just immediately trying to directly change brain processing. Still, though, perhaps some currently nonverbal autistics might welcome the opportunity to process language the way that most people do it, rather than requiring direct assistance for communication. If such therapies prove effective, it will quickly spawn a discussion similar to the Deaf/hearing one in relation to learning Sign language versus verbal speech.
Recommended relevant fiction: "Speed Of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon