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Seeing what we are thinking
March 26, 2001At last we can see ourselves thinking, using the technique known as functional brain imaging (fMRI), and some of the exciting developments in this field were described in a series of papers presented today, Thursday 29 March, at The British Psychological Society's Centenary Annual Conference, held at the SECC, Glasgow.
Dr Adrian Owen, of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, has been using functional neuroimaging to unravel how the human brain deals with the complexity of human memory. By scanning healthy volunteers while they carry out tests of memory and learning it is possible to detect 'hotspots' of increased activity which signify which areas of the brain are making the greatest contributions to the tasks. The biggest advances in the field are in understanding how we manage our memories. The results of this work are helping us to understand how memory is affected by normal ageing, by drugs, and by disease.
Dr Francesca Happe, of the Institute of Psychiatry, London, described how the use of brain imaging helps us understand our ability to lie, to deceive and outwit others. We understand the jokes in Frasier or the plot lines in Eastenders because we understand what it is that he thinks she wants him to think without it having to be spelled out to us. People who can't do this, such as those with autism, take things so literally that if told to 'stick your coat down anywhere' they may ask for the glue. Scanning healthy volunteers and those with autism may uncover the brain regions involved in 'reading minds'.
Dr Robin Morris of the Institute of Psychiatry, London, showed how virtual reality combined with fMRI scanning illustrates how the brain represents space and navigates us through the world. FMRI scanning has also shown clearly that the brain has the capability to reorganise itself following early damage. For many years it had been thought that there was only limited opportunity for this to happen so this is a very exciting new area.
British Psychological Society (BPS)
Autism Current Events and Autism News RSSM.I.N.D. Institute researchers find important clue to learning deficit in children with autism
A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has discovered an important clue to why children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble imitating others: They spend less time looking at the faces of people who are modeling new skills.
Survey confirms parents' fears, confusion over autism
The first national survey of attitudes toward autism reveals that a small but significant percentage of people still believe the disease is caused by childhood vaccines. The survey of 1000 randomly selected adults was conducted for the Florida Institute of Technology.
UCR researchers propose minocycline as a promising drug for patients with Fragile X syndrome
A UC Riverside-led team of biomedical scientists has found that a readily available drug called minocycline, used widely to treat acne and skin infections, can be used to treat Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common cause of autism.
Groundbreaking findings on autism to be presented at Carnegie Mellon international symposium
Today's autism research draws on a variety of scientific disciplines, from genetics to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to neural development. At the 35th Carnegie Symposium on Cognition, "Development and Brain Systems in Autism," 16 of the world's most prominent autism researchers will present their latest groundbreaking findings on the disorder and discuss the direction of future study that will continue to improve scientists' understanding of autism.
Toddlers' focus on mouths rather than on eyes is a predictor of autism severity
Scientists at Yale School of Medicine have found that two-year-olds with autism looked significantly more at the mouths of others, and less at their eyes, than typically developing toddlers. This abnormality predicts the level of disability, according to study results published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Rare genetic disorder gives clues to autism, epilepsy, mental retardation
A rare genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is yielding insight into a possible cause of some neurodevelopmental disorders: structural abnormalities in neurons, or brain cells.
Aberrations in region of chromosome 1q21.1 associated with broad range of disorders in children
Researchers have discovered a submicroscopic aberration in a particular region of human chromosome 1q21.1 that appears to be associated with a variety of developmental disorders in children.
Study firmly shows no connection between measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism
In a case-control study, the presence of measles virus RNA was no more likely in children with autism and GI disturbances than in children with only GI disturbances.
Gene associated with pair-bonding in animals has similar effects in human males
Variation in the gene for one of the receptors for the hormone vasopressin appears to be associated with how human males bond with their partners, according to an international team of researchers.
The first autism disease genes
The autistic disorder was first described, more than sixty years ago, by Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital (USA), who created the new label 'early infantile autism'.
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