Autism Brain Response Theory a Dead End

Summary: A new study challenges the neuronal unreliability theory of autism.

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center.

A new study out today in the journal Cerebral Cortex challenges the hypothesis that nerve cells in the brains of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders do not reliably and consistently respond to external stimuli.

“Our findings show there is no measurable variation in how individuals with Autism respond to repeated visual and tactile stimuli,” said John Foxe, Ph.D., the chair of the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Neuroscience and senior author of the study. “Consequently, the concept that the symptoms of Autism may arise from unreliable brain activity in response to the senses is in all likelihood a scientific cul-de-sac.”

The neuronal unreliability theory, which has gained traction in recent years in the wake of a study published in 2012, is based on the assumption that the brain’s response to repetitive stimuli – visual, audio, or touch – should be steady and consistent. According to this theory, the brain’s response is not constant in individuals with Autism and, consequently, alters their perception of the physical environment and impairs cognitive and social development.

The theory did not ring true with Foxe and his colleagues, based on their decades of studying the brain activity of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Furthermore, the original studies that formed the basis for this hypothesis involved functional MRI experiments which measure changes in the blood oxygen levels in the brain. While fluctuations in blood flow are important indicators of brain activity, these measures do not precisely correlate to the more rapid electrical activity that occurs in the brain when nerve cells are stimulated.

The new study involved 20 individuals diagnosed with Autism and 20 individuals who served as healthy controls. The participants were fitted with a dense array of electrodes on the surface of their scalp to record brain electrical activity and were then exposed to repeated visual stimuli. No matter how the researchers measured the variability of the responses, brain responses in Autism were as stable as those of the controls. To make sure that this wasn’t just the case in the visual system, the team also evaluated tactile inputs – repeated touches to the wrists of participants – and, once again, measures of brainwave responses provided no evidence whatsoever of increased response variability in the individuals with Autism.

“The point of this study is not to make the case that there aren’t any differences in the way that people with an Autism Spectrum Disorders process touch, sight or sound; research shows clear differences in some cases,” said Sophie Molholm, Ph.D., an associate professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and co-author of the study. “Rather, it is to say that whatever those differences may be, they likely don’t simply arise because the brain responses in Autism are more variable.”

The authors contend that, while the study essentially demonstrates negative findings, it represents an important contribution in the field of Autism where much of our understanding of the disease is – to the frustration of patients, families, research, and caregivers alike – long on theory and conjecture but short on solid scientific fact.

Image shows the word Autism on a blackboard.
The authors contend that, while the study essentially demonstrates negative findings, it represents an important contribution in the field of Autism where much of our understanding of the disease is – to the frustration of patients, families, research, and caregivers alike – long on theory and conjecture but short on solid scientific fact. Neurosciencenews image is for illustrative purposes only.

“We are extremely grateful to the journal for realizing the value of work that says in essence ‘there is nothing to be found here,'” said John Butler, Ph.D., an assistant lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology and lead author of the study. “It is just as important to get information out there that questions a major theory in the field as it is to publish work that supports it.”

About this autism research article

The study was also co-authored by Gizely Andrade Ph.D., with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Funding: The research was funded with support from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Nathan Gantcher Foundation.

Source: Mark Michaud – University of Rochester Medical Center
Image Source: This NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Full open access research for “An Examination of the Neural Unreliability Thesis of Autism” by John S. Butler, Sophie Molholm, Gizely N. Andrade, and John J. Foxe in Cerebral Cortex. Published online December 6 2016 doi:10.1093/cercor/bhw375

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]University of Rochester Medical Center. “Autism Brain Response Theory a Dead End.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 1 December 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-response-theory-autism-5697/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]University of Rochester Medical Center. (2016, December 1). Autism Brain Response Theory a Dead End. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved December 1, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-response-theory-autism-5697/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]University of Rochester Medical Center. “Autism Brain Response Theory a Dead End.” https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-response-theory-autism-5697/ (accessed December 1, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

An Examination of the Neural Unreliability Thesis of Autism

An emerging neuropathological theory of Autism, referred to here as “the neural unreliability thesis,” proposes greater variability in moment-to-moment cortical representation of environmental events, such that the system shows general instability in its impulse response function. Leading evidence for this thesis derives from functional neuroimaging, a methodology ill-suited for detailed assessment of sensory transmission dynamics occurring at the millisecond scale. Electrophysiological assessments of this thesis, however, are sparse and unconvincing. We conducted detailed examination of visual and somatosensory evoked activity using high-density electrical mapping in individuals with autism (N = 20) and precisely matched neurotypical controls (N = 20), recording large numbers of trials that allowed for exhaustive time-frequency analyses at the single-trial level. Measures of intertrial coherence and event-related spectral perturbation revealed no convincing evidence for an unreliability account of sensory responsivity in autism. Indeed, results point to robust, highly reproducible response functions marked for their exceedingly close correspondence to those in neurotypical controls

“An Examination of the Neural Unreliability Thesis of Autism” by John S. Butler, Sophie Molholm, Gizely N. Andrade, and John J. Foxe in Cerebral Cortex. Published online December 6 2016 doi:10.1093/cercor/bhw375

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