The Neurology of Autism: "The Bad Maestro." A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Nature of the Disorder
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by: rdepaolo
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Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 Time: 8:51 AM
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Trying to understand autism is a bit like fighting the Hydra. For those with only vague memories of those illuminating ancient history classes back in high school, the Hydra is a creature from Greek mythology with a hundred heads, each of which would grow back after being severed in battle. One would think that upon encountering this monster, the first question posed by an Odysseus-like figure might be: "Hmm, where do I begin?"
Autism is the syndrome with a hundred features. Not only that, it has a hundred degrees of severity along a spectrum that includes people who are not toilet trained to people with husbands, wives, jobs, and relatively normal life styles. By analogy the modern researcher is modern day Odysseus, trying to figure out where to begin in solving this complex puzzle. He or she is undoubtedly daunted by the sheer volume of symptoms, which include (among others) language deficits, cognitive deficits, stereotypy, social deficits, (eye) gaze aversion, explosive behavior, sleep problems, sensory integration problems, self abusive behavior, fine motor deficits, gross motor deficits and eating problems.
Since conjuring up a research design involves isolation of independent (causal and dependent (effected) variables implementation of research must be a rather iffy proposition. In point of fact the researcher must begin with the notion that it appears every system of the brain and body are involved in autistic symptomatology. Extremely frustrating.
For that reason it might help to begin with a neurological concept that explains how these varied characteristics could emanate from a single or narrow set of sources. This writer believes that can be done, but before doing so, some discussion of the functions of the central nervous system is required.
The human brain is complex only in terms of its cellular make-up and sheer volume. That is deceptive, because while it would appear that the task of figuring out how billions of neurons (nerve cells) arre orchestrated to produce language, cognition, emotion and other faculties is nearly impossible, there is a flip side to this problem. It is called simplicity. In the biological world homeostasis and systemic stability for both mind and body are paramount. All complex systems must have a simple code so that each component can communicate with the others and whitle down the various signals into understandable messages. Tte value of this inter-communications mechanism is obvious. Without it the components would interfere with one another. That would turn complexity into chaos and in the case of humans, mitigate the advantages of having a large brain. Perhaps a simpler of looking at this is to say that our brains operate in the same way as our politics.. With lots of people, all of whom might clash, compete and disrupt the goals of one another, we need laws. The fact that humans create laws to regulate populations is not surprising, because at the cellular level our brains do the very same thing. In other words culture emanates from the systemic functions of the brain.
In trying to understanding of autism, we are really attempting to figure out what the regulatory code is. More specifically, what mechanism in the brain oversees all its diverse functions and prevents complexity from morphing into chaos? This is not an easy question to answer, for several reasons. To assume one part of the brain monitors all the others also assumes the regulatory network is somehow removed from the others, that is, not influenced by them via neural connections. If not, it would be a bit like having a Supreme Court that is part of the legislature. No juridical regulation could come of that.
With regard to autism, one must consider the possibility that the ultimate cause of the disorder is not necessarily to be found in the inter-relationships among brain circuits and pathways but in a language code that monitors and tells the cells how and where to connect. Some researchers would dispute this claim - and not without good reason. After all, some studies have revealed anomalies in the structure of frontal lobes, midbrain (limbic) systems, the occipital (visual) cortex and the motor-regulatory circuit known as the cerebellum. The problem is that that only complicates matters. If all these brain systems are involved, yet all faciliate different functions, how can any single one be implicated in autism? In other words, the search for a specific brain neuropathy that ostensibly causes autism is like fighting the hydra.
There is an alternative explanation. In order for the brain to be functional it must be, above all else, fluid and rhythmic. Its wave frequencies must provide an impulse code that tells excitatory neurons to proceed and inhibitory neurons to stop - and with the utmost precision. Otherwise all the integrative (ie multi-systemic) faculties like language, cognition, abstract reasoning, etc woul be impossible - or certainly frustrating enough to make the autistic learner avoid any such tasks. A similar wave phenomenon has been observed and discussed at length in the past - perhaps most notably by neurologist Karl Pribram in his work on the "slow potential microstructure" of the brain.
The question is; how does a rhythm code regulate brain communications? It would do so by what is called an algorithm - a kind of mathematical summation of what is going on in each brain system in terms of agreement and conflict (for example, a computation suggesting 2=3 = 6) and averaging it out to closure. For example if the visual cortex picked came upon a stimulus - say a person whose face it could not identify by name, the wave frequency would shift over to the language and memory centers - all the while holding the visual input in toe. The wave frequency would recognize uncertainty and upon shifting to the memory and language centers, it would determine when the various brain centers "agree" - such that the face, and name of the person are assimilated. To avoid arcane clinical terms let's call this function the "maestro."
But what if the 'maestro" is not doing its job? What behavioral features would ensue? First of all, an inability to orchestrate among various brain sites would lead the autistic individual to withdraw from learning, and from any sort of integrative experience where more than one brain function is involved. Second, the autistic individual would not only have difficulty talking (which is a highly integrative activity). He also might be averse to the human voice, not due to its pitch, but due to its adherence to integrative nuances that require muitl-faculty perceptions by the listener. In addition, the autistic individual might be extremely dyspraxic, once again due to a faulty "maestro" in the brain. His capacity to use utensiles, chew, walk, engage in listen-speak alternatesequences would all be disrupted, so th the best he could do would be to repeat exactly what was said to him and engage in rigid, awkward movements.
There are also emotional ramifications of the "bad maestro." When the brain is not fluidly regulated, its component systems cannot share efficiently the inputs impinging on any one site. One of the seldom-discussed benefits of having an integrative brain is that is provides an emotion-dampening device resulting from that neural sharing (often called lateral inhibition). Without that capacity, any one stimulus, emotional or otherwise will tend to impinge on narrow sets of pathways without any dampening effect. As a result those stimuli will have extraordinary impact on the non regulated brain. The autistic person would tend to spike behaviorally and emotionally. His stimulus reflexes would be in their essence, faster than those of a normal person, making his behavior unpredictable.
According to this line of reasoning, autistic symptomatology can be broken into two categories. One is a deficit category - referring to the inability to integrate and thus develop normal speech, coordination and emotional regulation capacities. The other would be a compensatory category - referring to so-called abnormal behaviors that are in fact adaptive from the autistic individual's point of view. These would include rhythm compensations helping him overcome the bad maestro. Examples would be stereotypy, sing-song vocal tone, use of movement while talking and thinking and other exaggerated orientation mechanisms.
Whether or not the central problem in autism is a faulty maestro or, in clinical terms, a non fluid interaction between slow potential microstructure wave activiity in the brain and specific lobes and circuits, few would argue that rhythm is a problem with autistic people. To take it one step further simply requires building a conceptiual bridge betwen the various deficits asociated with autism and the dysrhythmia discussed here.
About the Author
Robert DePaolo, School Psychologist, Wilton School District, NH
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