MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences - Cryptome

58 Autism
See also AUDITION; AUDITORY ATTENTION; CONDITION-
ING AND THE BRAIN; PHONOLOGY, NEURAL BASIS OF;
SPEECH PERCEPTION
—Gregg Recanzone
References
Bakin, J. S., and N. M. Weinberger. (1990). Classical conditioning
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cortex of the guinea pig. Brain Res. 536: 271–286.
Diamond, D. M., and N. M. Weinberger. (1986). Classical conditioning
rapidly induces specific changes in frequency receptive
fields of single neurons in secondary and ventral ectosylvian
auditory cortical fields. Brain Res. 372: 357–360.
Knudsen, E. I., and M. S. Brainard. (1991). Visual instruction of
the neural map of auditory space in the developing optic tectum.
Science 253: 85–87.
Knudsen, E. I., and P. F. Knudsen. (1989). Vision calibrates sound
localization in developing barn owls. J. Neurosci. 9: 3306–3313.
Kuhl, P. K. (1993). Developmental speech perception: implications
for models of language impairment. Annal New York Acad. Sci.
682: 248–263.
McKenna, T. M., J. H. Ashe, and N. M. Weinberger. (1989). Cholinergic
modulation of frequency receptive fields in auditory
cortex: 1. Frequency-specific effects of muscarinic agonists.
Synapse 4: 30–43.
Merzenich, M. M., W. M. Jenkins, P. Johnston, C. Schreiner, S. L.
Miller, and P. Tallal. (1996). Temporal processing deficits of
language-learning impaired children ameliorated by training.
Science 271: 77–81.
Metherate, R., and N. M. Weinberger. (1990). Cholinergic modulation
of responses to single tones produces tone-specific receptive
field alterations in cat auditory cortex. Synapse 6: 133–145.
Rajan, R., D. R. Irvine, L. Z. Wise, and P. Heil. (1993). Effect of
unilateral partial cochlear lesions in adult cats on the representation
of lesioned and unlesioned cochleas in primary auditory
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Recanzone, G. H., C. E. Schreiner, and M. M. Merzenich. (1993).
Plasticity in the frequency representation of primary auditory
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C. Schreiner, W. M. Jenkins, and M. M. Merzenich. (1996).
Language comprehension in language-learning impaired children
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Further Readings
Knudsen, E. I. (1984). Synthesis of a neural map of auditory space
in the owl. In G. M. Edelman, W. M. Cowan, and W. E. Gall,
Eds., Dynamic Aspects of Neocortical Function. New York:
Wiley, pp. 375–396.
Knudsen, E. I., and M. S. Brainard. (1995). Creating a unified representation
of visual and auditory space in the brain. Ann. Rev.
Neurosci. 18: 19–43.
Merzenich, M. M., C. Schreiner, W. Jenkins, and X. Wang. (1993).
Neural mechanisms underlying temporal integration, segmentation,
and input sequence representation: some implications for
the origin of learning disabilities. Annal New York Acad. Sci.
682: 1–22.
Neville, H. J., S. A. Coffey, D. S. Lawson, A. Fischer, K. Emmorey,
and U. Bellugi. (1997). Neural systems mediating American
sign language: Effects of sensory experience and age of
acquisition. Brain and Language 57: 285–308.
Recanzone, G. H. (1993). Dynamic changes in the functional organization
of the cerebral cortex are correlated with changes in
psychophysically measured perceptual acuity. Biomed. Res. 14,
Suppl. 4: 61–69.
Weinberger, N. M. (1995). Dynamic regulation of receptive fields
and maps in the adult sensory cortex. Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 18:
129–158.
Weinberger, N. M., J. H. Ashe, R. Metherate, T. M. McKenna, D.
M. Diamond, and J. S. Bakin. (1990). Retuning auditory cortex
by learning: A preliminary model of receptive field plasticity.
Concepts Neurosci. 1: 91–131.
Autism
A developmental disorder of the brain, autism exists from
birth and persists throughout life. The etiology of the disorder
is still unknown, but is believed to be largely genetic,
while different organic factors have been implicated in a
substantial proportion of cases (for reviews see Ciaranello
and Ciaranello 1995; Bailey, Phillips, and Rutter 1996).
Autism was identified and labeled by Kanner (1943) and
Asperger (1944).
The diagnosis of autism is based on behavioral criteria.
The chief criteria as set out in ICD-10 (WHO 1992) and in
DSM-IV (APA 1994) include: abnormalities of social interaction,
abnormalities of verbal and nonverbal communication,
and a restricted repertoire of interests and activities.
Behavior suggestive of these impairments can already be
discerned in infancy. A recent screening instrument, based
on a cognitive account of autism, appears to be remarkably
successful at eighteen months, involving failure of gaze
monitoring, protodeclarative pointing, and pretend play
(Baron-Cohen et al. 1996). These appear to be the first clear
behavioral manifestations of the disorder. Contrary to popular
belief, failure of bonding or attachment is not a distinguishing
characteristic of autism.
The autistic spectrum refers to the wide individual variation
of symptoms from mild to severe. Behavior not only
varies with age and ability, but is also modified by a multitude
of environmental factors. For this reason, one of the
major problems with behaviorally defined developmental
disorders is how to identify primary, associated, and secondary
features. Three highly correlated features, namely characteristic
impairments in socialization, communication, and
imagination, were identified in a geographically defined
population study (Wing and Gould 1979). These impairments
appear to persist in development even though their