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Lack of 'Mirror Neurons' Linked to Autism
FruFox writes "A recent study has pointed to a possible link between autism and lack of so-called 'mirror neurons' , either physically or functionally. This provides the first solid physical evidence to back up the theory that autism's root cause is a profound lack of empathy. This probably impacts the world of Asperger's Syndrome as well. Many Slashdot readers are undoubtedly familiar with the world of Asperger's / autism."
If I recall correctly, mirror neurons are associated with imitation and self-visualization. Somehow, this meshes well with the idea of autistics lacking "higher level abstraction" abilities. Specifically, mirror neurons provide a means of abstracting the idea of self. Let me explain.
I've read that in some parts of the autistic brain, "layers" of neurons are connected directly to each other, such that every neuron in a particular layer is connected to every other neuron in the next layer. However, in normal brains, a third layer exists between pairs of layers. In this way, normal brains require fewer synaptic connections, but longer axonal pathways (i.e. a given signal takes longer to be processed, but may travel through internal layers which modify and abstract features from outer layers).
This property is theorized to give rise, in some autistics, to "idiot savant" abilities; such individuals often excel at a particular skill or set of skills (such as multiplying large numbers together very quickly). For example, one might be able to multiply 5 digit numbers together in a couple of seconds. However, because of the lack of inter-layers which allow for abstractions (and possibly understanding/comprehension of the processed information), the same person may have no concious concept of the numerical value of real world things.
(( (CRAYON) )) >
Let's see:
Yup, that's me.
Good catch. I missed that in my initial response in this thread. Lack of empathy, inability to process non-verbal communication (particularly the non-verbal sort associated with inter-gender relations) in the same innate manner as the average person, are the symptoms of my own Asperger's that have impacted me the most.
THing is though, older aspies eventually work it out (the non-verbal communication/flirting/pass), just too late. It's almost as if the part of the brain that most people use for that sort of communication is wired into other reasoning processes in Aspergers and Autism subjects.
My great fear has always been that that part of my brain was (theoretically) repurposed to the skills that currently allow me to make a living, and that any cure might render me able to understand non-verbal subtext, but doom me to a life as a McDonald's manager.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
He is a nice guy - outgoing and cheerful, just like most people with Aspergers. If you talk to him long enough, he simply starts looping over and over about every 20 minutes on the same sequence of subjects. He's very smart -- he can list off the businesses that have occupied any given corner or strip mall (and he tends to as you drive around), but he can't find his way home unless it's the same way he drove there.
People hear that and think "I know somebody like that", or even "that's like me", but don't realize how profound the level of these symptoms are. He speaks about his dead cat in present tense because that's how he always has spoken about her. He literally cannot comprehend that somebody is lying to him. He threw a superbowl party with GI Joe tablecloths because that's how his parties were decorated when he was a little kid.
People (other than hypochondriacs) never forget where their keys are and then leap to conclude that they have a chronic and fatal disease like ALS. People seldom talk to themselves and then self-diagnose schizophrenia. Lately however, it seems like it has become very trendy in certain geek circle to decide you have Aspergers or a "light case" of Aspergers.
If they spent time with people living in facilities with legitimately diagnosed Aspergers, they might reconsider their self-diagnosis. You might reconsider it being an "attack on the intelligent" and more of a bizarre confusion regarding what the mental disorder entails.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
An excellent point well made.
;-)
;-)
I have aspergers as does my 7 year old son and we couldn't survive day to day life without a lot of support from our loved ones which we don't always acknowledge due to our lack of empathy generally. If it's hard for someone with aspergers it's harder for those that support them and I wouldn't have noticed this without a hell of a lot of help.
The inability to spot a lie makes life difficult among people who would like to take advantage of me, luckily I have learned the hard way to avoid these people but it led me to live an almost friendless existance for many years until I discovered it was certain types of people that led to my unhappiness.
I have suffered with depression for years caused by my inability to understand other people. I don't believe I or my son have a problem but the majority of people who lie and accept they are being lied to on a daily basis should probably book themselves into a facility for some care
as for the getting lost unless your friend follows the same route both myself and my son are lucky in the fact that we can 'see' maps and know the topology of the surrounding area automatically. Unfortunatly this does make it even harder than normal when we are lost. It's impossible to describe the feelings I have when I don't 'know' where I am in terms I think you could understand this makes it impossible to sleep on journeys.
Like most people with aspergers I have things that I think should be done in a certain way and my son also has things he likes done in certain ways you can't imagine the clash that happens when these two ideas clash.
On the positive side I can talk to my son like an adult on some subjects (his maths is excellent) but as a negative he is very late at developing in some areas.
Certainly in the UK part of the diagnosis is that it 'has' to affect your day to day ability to live unaided.
geeks aren't generally aspies but aspies are often geeks
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