Results of my Neurological testing

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I went to a neurologist to see if he could explain why I cannot visualize anything in my mind. The correct term would be a deficit in non verbal working memory. I had an MRI and MRI with contrast. I was sure something was going to be abnormal with the right hippocampus.

And the results.....

Everything looks fine. There are no tumors, signs of stroke, or lesions. From what the neurologist could tell, all the parts are there and nothing looks out of order.

He said the non verbal working memory issue is probably on the cellular level (not structural and not something he can see). He said it's probably genetic in source, an I was just born this way. It's not the result of any type of injury or physical abnormality he can see.

So I got all the TV parts, I just can't turn them on. It's a relief to know that my brain is healthy. At the same time, it's like finding out you have all the parts for a really cool toy, but you just can't use it and nobody can tell you why. *STUMPS AROUND*

Great that it's nothing serious!

I think many of us have deficits of that sort. You can probably get tips from us, actually.

If I had a cool toy and couldn't make it work, I'd take it apart and turn it into something else. In other words: If your brain won't do one thing, find out what it likes to do and use that.

Does this rule out or reinforce an ASD diagnosis? I'll be able to ask my neurophysiologist in a few weeks, but this will be on my mind until then. I know ADHD and ASD are genetically caused. This is evidence of a specific genetically caused abnormality if the neurologist is correct that the issue is at the cellular level and genetically caused. I just figured something would show up as being physically abnormal.

ADHD/ASD are as of yet only diagnosed on the behavioral level, and I'm not sure if poor non-verbal memory is part of either of them. Whether a neuro could or could not find any abnormalities, doesn't rule out or rule in ASD/ADHD: there are people who do have structural abnormalities in the brain, and people who don't (ADHD used to be called "minimal brain damage/dysfunction", but the presumption of structural abnormalities was only theoretical). There ar enon-genetic risk factors that do lead to structural brain abnormalities, that can result int he same behavioral profile as ASD/ADHD (brain damage from birth trauma for example). So if you want ot know whether you have ADHD or ASD, you should get an evaluation from a psychologist or psychiatrist. I'm not sure if the neuro testing you got is relevant int his situation at all.