Re:Fine architecture of autistic brains

Good point- re; only nine subjects, yet I have no doubt these researchers did find something abnormal in the neural columns. As I wrote in the first article, a number of studies have "demonstrated" the presence of brain anomalies, including cortical (fronto-parietal) cell immaturity, a slow temporal lobe metabolism and even mid brain (limbic) damage. The problem is that in subsequent studies, not all autistic people showed any of those features and many normals did.

Unfortunately it appears that neuropsychological and histological studies essentially tell us nothing about the cause and/or nature of autism. Once again, the question appears to be Lashley-esque, to wit: Is it feasible to continue brain research on autism and other disorders, in terms of "localization theory," i.e the notion that specific functions emanate from specific circuits or even cellular configurations? Or is a new, integrative model needed to explain not just why the correlation between brain damage and specific dysfunctions is tenuous, but also why more normal forms of "brain damage"...for example aging (which strips away alarmingly large portions of brain cells after roughly the age of 18)...do not typically lead to dysfunction. Somehow the brain "dynamic" is integrative, corrective, redundant and compensatory - which makes perfect sense in evolutionary terms, since brain cells do
not regenerate and require an operative mechanism that does not depend on sheer numbers of cells and circuits.

The reason for mentioning wave functions - which are not strictly material or cellular and are somewhat immune to neuropathy - is that one way information systems usually make up for volume and/or noise interference is by the use of rules (or algorithms if you will). Something "removed from the fray" that can govern without having material fragilities, (i.e. being madeup of cells that die) could do the trick.

One of the ways our brains access rules is of course through language - which is a mnemonic, categorical and consciousness priming skill as well as a means of communicating. There are so-called language centers in the cortext and we know autism is typified by language deficits. The key to this is defining what we mean by "language." Language has its own topography, i.e. grammar and phonetics. But is also has general rules that have little to do with that topography (for example Noam Chomsky's concept of "universal gramar"). It also has its own rhythmic format - in fact the prime "bit" in language (the sentence) has a kind of meter. If cognition, speech and other experience-organizing faculties are essentially rhythmic in nature, is it possible that the wave/computation function discussed by Pribram is an important aspect of brain function and one that can be investigated in research on autism?

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