Autism and genius : is there a link? The involvement of central brain loops and hypotheses for functional testing

Boso, Marianna and Emanuele, Enzo and Prestori, Francesca and Politi, Pierluigi and Barale, Francesco and D’Angelo, Egidio (2010) Autism and genius : is there a link? The involvement of central brain loops and hypotheses for functional testing. Functional Neurology; New Trends in Interventional Neurosciences, 25 (1). pp. 15-20. ISSN 1971-3274

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Abstract

Mental processing is the product of the huge number of synaptic interactions that occur in the brain. It is easier to understand how brain functions can deteriorate than how they might be boosted. Lying at the border between the humanities, cognitive science and neurophysiology, some mental diseases offer new angles on this problematic issue. Despite their social deficits, autistic subjects can display unexpected and extraordinary skills in numerous fields, including music, the arts, calculation and memory. The advanced skills found in a subgroup of people with autism may be explained by their special mental functioning, in particular by their weak central coherence, one of the pivotal characteristics of the disorder. As a result of the increasing interest in autistic talent, there has recently emerged a tendency to screen any eccentric artist or scientist for traits of the autistic spectrum. Following this trend, we analyze the eccentricity of the popular pianist Glenn Gould and briefly discuss the major functional hypotheses on autistic hyperfunctioning, advancing proposals for functional testing. In particular, the potential involvement of rhythm-entrained systems and cerebro-cerebellar loops opens up new perspectives for the investigation of autistic disorders and brain hyperfunctioning.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ASD, autism, brain connectivity, cerebro-cerebellar loops, music
Subjects:	600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici) > 612 Fisiologia umana > 612.8 Funzioni nervose, funzioni sensorie (Classificare qui la Neurofisiologia, la Psicofisiologia) > 612.82 Cervello (classificare qui il sistema nervoso centrale, le Neuroscienze, le Neuroscienze cognitive) > 612.823 Emozioni, processi mentali consci, intelligenza > 612.8233 Processi mentali consci e intelligenza (Classificare qui la Neuroscienza cognitiva) 600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici) > 616 Malattie (classificare qui la Clinica medica, la medicina basata sull'evidenza, la Medicina interna, la Medicina sperimentale) > 616.8 Malattie del sistema nervoso e disturbi mentali (Classificare qui la Neuropsichiatria, la Neurologia) 600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici) > 616 Malattie (classificare qui la Clinica medica, la medicina basata sull'evidenza, la Medicina interna, la Medicina sperimentale) > 616.8 Malattie del sistema nervoso e disturbi mentali (Classificare qui la Neuropsichiatria, la Neurologia) > 616.85 Malattie varie del sistema nervoso e disturbi mentali di diverso genere > 616.858 Disturbi della personalità, sessuali, dell’identità di genere, del controllo degli impulsi, fittizi, dello sviluppo, dell’apprendimento; comportamento violento, ritardo mentale > 616.8588 Ritardo mentale; disturbi dello sviluppo e dell’apprendimento (Classificare qui i disturbi mentali solitamente diagnosticati in primo luogo nell’infanzia, nell’adolescenza) > 616.85882 Autismo (Classificare qui le opere d’insieme sui disturbi pervasivi dello sviluppo)
Depositing User:	Danilo Dezzi
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2011 14:08
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2011 14:08
URI:	http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/3519

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