PSYC 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Fusiform Face Area, Fusiform Gyrus, Autism Spectrum
16 Jan 2019
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First symptoms =trouble with social interaction and communication. Sometimes: clear cognitive impairments, intellectual disability, reduced imaginative ability. Some don"t like to be held (arched back when picked up), others don"t care. Mild autism [asperger"s] = no delay in language development or important cognitive deficits. Will echo what"s said or refer to themselves in second/third person. 2:1 male/female ration for autism w intellectual disability. Genetic and environmental factors that affect brain development in first few months of gestation. Viral infections during pregnancy when the brain is still setting up synaptic connections. Small brain at birth but grows v fast and by 2-3yo is 10% bigger than normal brain. Choreographed waves of apoptosis and synaptic pruning that happen -> dysregulated in people with apoptosis. Hypotheses for cellular and molecular bases of early brain development: Unbalanced excitatory-inhibitory neural networks fmri"s show abnormalities in brain activity: little to no activity in fusiform face area of autistic adults looking at pictures of human faces.
