A study of brain activation in response to distressing images of people in pain, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, has shown that people with ASDs respond the same way as others to the sight of others in pain:
Quote:
Empathy deficits have been considered as an element contributing to social difficulties in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and short video clips of facial expressions of people experiencing pain to examine the neural substrates underlying the spontaneous empathic response to pain in autism... In contrast to general assumptions, we found no significant differences in brain activation between ASD individuals and controls during the perception of pain experienced by others.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24424389
There is something going on here, Mr Baron-Cohen, but you don't really know what it is.
It would seem that stronger activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex in individuals with ASD are connected to Alexithymia and a stronger reappraisal of and regulation of emotions. What has been perceived historically as an absence of emotional response in individuals with ASDs really indicated the stronger emotional regulation they are under.
I wonder, can we get Simon "I'm not in the business of holding on to wrong ideas" Baron-Cohen to retract some of this twaddle, now?
03 Mar 2014, 2:24 pm
