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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects roughly 1 in 88 people. ASD impairs someone's ability to navigate everyday social interactions and assimilate into daily life.
In recent months, revolutionary methods of neuroimaging have revealed that individuals with autism exhibit uniquely 'idiosyncratic' patterns of brain connectivity and synchronization.
The atypical synchronization patterns between brain regions observed in ASD are perplexing to neuroscientists. Solving this riddle could lead to better treatments for ASD as well as improve our understanding of ways to optimize brain structure and function in the general population.
Autism and the Idiosyncratic Brain
Earlier this year, researchers from the Weizmann Institute and Carnegie Mellon University compared various synchronization patterns between a control group and those with ASD. They discovered intriguing differences between the two groups. Participants in the control group shared a surprising uniformity in terms of their brain synchronization and patterns of connectivity. On the flip side, those with ASD showed remarkably divergent synchronization patterns.
The January 2015 study, “The Idiosyncratic Brain: Distortion of Spontaneous Connectivity Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” was published in Nature Neuroscience. The study shows that the brains of individuals with autism display unique synchronization patterns. This discovery could lead to earlier ASD diagnosis and better treatments.
There was very little conformity of brain connectivity or synchronization among study participants with autism. Those with autism displayed completely unique patterns that were like a fingerprint of personalized connectivity patterns. The researchers coined the synchronization patterns observed in the control group as "conformist" and those seen in the ASD group as "idiosyncratic."
A number of previous studies have suggested that spontaneous patterns of brain synchronization in a resting state might provide a window into an individual's behavioral traits. The differences between the synchronization patterns observed in the autism and control groups could help to explain how and why individuals interact and communicate the way they do with others and their surroundings.
In a press release, Avital Hahamy of the Weizmann Neurobiology Department said,
From a young age, the average, typical person's brain networks get molded by intensive interaction with people and the mutual environmental factors. Such shared experiences could tend to make the synchronization patterns in the control group's resting brains more similar to each other. It is possible that in ASD, as interactions with the environment are disrupted, each one develops a more uniquely individualistic brain organization pattern.
The researchers emphasize that more research is needed to uncover the broad range of factors that lead to ASD-related idiosyncrasies in brain synchronization. They also recommend future research into how and when different individuals establish particular brain patterns. Knowing this could inform the future development of interventions and better methods for diagnosing autism.
The “Social Brain” Shows Decreased Functional Connectivity in Autism
Another recent autism study conducted by a team of researchers at UCLA found that the connectivity between brain areas linked to social behaviors were both underdeveloped and insufficiently networked in youths with high functioning ASD.
The October 2015 study, "Altered Resting Perfusion and Functional Connectivity of Default Mode Network in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder," was published online in the journal Brain and Behavior.
The UCLA researchers set out to test a hypothesis that ASD might be caused by increased or decreased connectivity within specific neural networks that form the "social brain." To prove this, they created a novel neuroimaging method to gauge brain connectivity using a dual-pronged approach that tracked the amount of blood flow—as a measurement of the amount of energy used—while simultaneously monitoring the activity patterns and strength of connections between neural networks.
The researchers tested the participants while they were at rest in a brain scanner. Their findings revealed significant differences between the two groups. Children with ASD exhibited a pattern of widespread increased blood flow, or hyper-perfusion, represented by increased oxygen metabolism in the frontal brain areas. The frontal cortex is important for executive function and navigating social interactions.
This type of blood flow is atypical. As a healthy brain develops, blood flow to the frontal cortex is typically reduced due to neural pruning of excessive or redundant connections. The increased blood flow and energy demands of the frontal cortex observed in ASD participants suggests that these frontal brain regions are working overtime for some reason.
Most likely, this is a compensation for other brain regions that are under-connected. In people without ASD, "conformist" synchronization probably regulates their socio-emotional cognition more intuitively without needing to recruit the cerebral executive function of the frontal lobes.
The recent UCLA findings are consistent with other structural MRI findings of enlarged brain size and an atypical abundance of neurons and gray matter brain volume in specific regions associated with ASD. The existence of too many active synapses in the frontal cortex actually inhibits cognition and creativity while simultaneously requiring extra blood flow and draining brain power.
ASD participants also had a reduction of long-range connectivity between default mode network (DMN) nodes located in the front and back of the brain. The DMN is important for social and emotional processes as well as self-referential thought.
The loss of connectivity between the front and the back of the brain means that information can’t flow easily between various brain regions. This under-connectivity may help explain the lack of social skills associated with autism. Atypical brain connectivity seen in autism also impacts 'Theory of Mind,' which is the ability to attribute mental states such as empathy and compassion to oneself and others.
Typically, the architecture of the brain is reshaped through neuroplasticity to create highly efficient neural networks that maximize functionality and minimize energy consumption. This is not what the researchers found in ASD participants.
Conclusion: Are Abnormalities of the Cerebellum Linked to Idiosyncratic Brain Synchronization in Autism Spectrum Disorders?
In recent years, a wide range of studies have linked structural and functional abnormalities of the cerebellum with autism spectrum disorders. Cerebellar (of or relating to the cerebellum) abnormalities were not a focus in either of the studies discussed in this blog post.
That said, based on extensive research on the potential link between autism and the cerebellum, I would make an educated guess that the cerebellum is somehow correlated to both idiosyncratic brain synchronization and the over- and under-connectivity observed in ASD. More research on this topic is necessary. Stay tuned!
If you'd like to read more about autism and the brain, check out my Psychology Today blog posts,
- "How Is the Cerebellum Linked to Autism Spectrum Disorders?"
- "Autism Genes Can Disrupt Connections Between Brain Regions"
- "More Research Links Autism and the Cerebellum"
- "Why Do Girls and Boys with Autism Have Differing Behaviors?"
- "The Cerebellum Deeply Influences Our Thoughts and Emotions"
- "Autism, Purkinje Cells, and the Cerebellum Are Intertwined"
- "How Are Purkinje Cells in the Cerebellum Linked to Autism?"
- "The Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, and Autism Are Intertwined"
- "Research Links Autism Severity with Motor Skill Deficiencies"
- "Chronic Stress Can Damage Brain Structure and Connectivity"
- "New Paradigm of Thought Demystifies Cognitive Flexibility"
- "Superfluidity: Decoding the Enigma of Cognitive Flexibiity"
- "Why Does Overthinking Sabotage the Creative Process?"
- "The Cerebellum May Be the Seat of Creativity"
- "The Neuroscience of Knowing Without Knowing"
© 2015 Christopher Bergland. All rights reserved.
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