Autism - Neurocognitive Disorder
Neurocognitive Disorder Research:
Autism
Psychology
November, 09, 2010
"Autism is a lifelong developmental disability. It is part of the autism spectrum and is sometimes referred to as an autism spectrum disorder, or an ASD. The word 'spectrum ' is used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in very different ways. Some are able to live relatively 'everyday ' lives; others will require a lifetime of specialist support (Hesmondhalgh, 2010). This thesis intends to investigate this behavioural disorder through its mechanisms of pathophysiology of brain structures and processes associated with autism, and the neuropsychological linkages between brain structures and behaviours also treatment for the disease through behavioural and cognitive approaches. In contrast to Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseases, autism lacks any clear unifying pathology at the molecular, cellular, or systems level (Geschwind, 2008). Autism appears to result from developmental factors that affect many or all functional brain systems. “Several recent functional neuro-imaging studies provide evidence of a lower degree of coordination among activated brain areas in autism. Recent studies found that the brain activity was less synchronized across activated brain areas (i.e., there was reduced functional connectivity) in autism” (Just, Cherkassy, Keller, & Minshew, 2007) Neuroanatomical studies suggest that autism 's mechanism includes alteration of brain development soon after conception. Just after birth, the brains of autistic children tend to grow faster than usual, followed by normal or relatively slower growth in childhood. It is not known whether the early overgrowth take place in all autistic children. It seems to be most prominent in brain areas underlying the development of higher cognitive specialization (Just et al., 2007). Suggestions for the bases of pathological early
Autism
Psychology
November, 09, 2010
"Autism is a lifelong developmental disability. It is part of the autism spectrum and is sometimes referred to as an autism spectrum disorder, or an ASD. The word 'spectrum ' is used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in very different ways. Some are able to live relatively 'everyday ' lives; others will require a lifetime of specialist support (Hesmondhalgh, 2010). This thesis intends to investigate this behavioural disorder through its mechanisms of pathophysiology of brain structures and processes associated with autism, and the neuropsychological linkages between brain structures and behaviours also treatment for the disease through behavioural and cognitive approaches. In contrast to Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseases, autism lacks any clear unifying pathology at the molecular, cellular, or systems level (Geschwind, 2008). Autism appears to result from developmental factors that affect many or all functional brain systems. “Several recent functional neuro-imaging studies provide evidence of a lower degree of coordination among activated brain areas in autism. Recent studies found that the brain activity was less synchronized across activated brain areas (i.e., there was reduced functional connectivity) in autism” (Just, Cherkassy, Keller, & Minshew, 2007) Neuroanatomical studies suggest that autism 's mechanism includes alteration of brain development soon after conception. Just after birth, the brains of autistic children tend to grow faster than usual, followed by normal or relatively slower growth in childhood. It is not known whether the early overgrowth take place in all autistic children. It seems to be most prominent in brain areas underlying the development of higher cognitive specialization (Just et al., 2007). Suggestions for the bases of pathological early
References: Amaral, D.G., Shummann, C.M., & Nordahl, C.W.(2008). Neuroanatomy of autism. Trends in Neuroscience Ashwood, P., Wills, S., Van de Water, J. (2006). The immune response in autism: a new frontier for autism research. Leukocyte Biology. 80(1),1–15. doi:10.1189/jlb.1205707 Courchesne, E Geschwind D.H. (2008). Autism: many genes, common pathways? Cell. 135(3),391–5. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.10.016 Grossberg, S., Seidman, D Hesmondhalgh, M. (2010). Autism at work. Occupational Health. 62(2), 32-34. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Lim, H. (2010). Effect of "developmental speech and language training through music" on speech production in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Music Therapy. 47(1), 2-26. Retrieved from ProQuest database. Sussman, J. (2008). What is autism? Total Health. 30(1), 29-31. Retrieved from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source.