Neurodiversity: The Neuroanatomical & Neuropsychological Evidence for ASD

FACT: Autism Spectrum Disorder (and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders) causes – neuroanatomical flaws – NOT – neurological variations! Neurodiversity is like a hoax!

The proponents from the Neurodiversity Movement like Aiyana Bailin states things like: “Autism and other neurological variations (learning disabilities, ADHD, etc.) may be disabilities, but they are not flaws.”. (Scientific American, 2019)

That is not only ignorant, it is deliberately misleading!

These neuroanatomical dysfunctions and neuropsychological cognitional & behavioral traits are – NOT – simply “neurological variations” as the Neurodiversity Movement would like you to believe!

The scientific evidence says,

“Several grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) abnormalities in brain structure and an increase of fractional anisotropy (FA) linked to ASD behavioral deficits (e.g. temporal lobes, corpus callosum and cingulum) were detected. Higher fractional anisotropy (FA) value was also observed in the corpus callosum, posterior cingulate cortex, and limbic lobes of ASD. The converging findings of structural and white matter abnormalities in ASD suggest that alterations in neuroanatomy of different brain regions may be involved in behavioral and cognitive deficits associated with ASD. These results provide powerful evidence to support that 2- to 3-year-old toddlers with ASD exhibit neuroimaging abnormalities of certain brain regions and present a link between previous behavioral findings and neuroanatomical features in a straightforward manner.” Xiao et al. (2014)

The findings from this publication, provide powerful evidence for the neuroanatomical and neuropsychological deficits, which leads to:

Neuroanatomical defects causing dysfunction in these functions:

• retrieve autobiographical memories
• plan for the future
• regulating the focus of attention
• arousal state
• conscious awareness
• disturbances in the perception of time
• temporal processing (sounds)
• stimulus-seeking
• Disrupted connections contribute to behavioral disinhibition
• Autonomic functions regulating heart rate and blood pressure as well as cognitive, attentional and emotional processing
• Spatial memory
• Long-term memory
• Anxiety
• Aggression
• Fear conditioning
• Emotional memory
• Social cognition
• Regulation of the autonomic nervous system via hormone production and release
• Regulation of blood pressure
• Regulation of heart rate
• Regulation of hunger
• Regulation of thirst
• Regulation of sexual arousal
• Regulation of the circadian rhythm sleep/wake cycle

Neuropsychological dysfunctions causing these behavioral traits:

• problems reading facial expressions or voice tone
• difficulty with problem-solving and complex tasks
• lack of ability in assessing risk
• difficulty understanding abstract concepts
• problems understanding slang or sarcasm
• difficulty understanding emotions
• giving untrue information but believing it is true
• delays in milestones, such as sitting, walking, riding a bike
• delays in speech and language acquisition
• clumsiness and poor coordination
• delayed toilet training
• social immaturity
• lack of self-awareness
• difficulty understanding social cues
• problems understanding others’ perspectives
• finding it hard to maintaining attention
• hyperactivity
• lack of fear
• obsessive or compulsive behaviour

FACT: Autism Spectrum Disorder (and other Neurodevelopmental DIsorders) causes – neuroanatomical flaws – NOT – neurological variations!

/Peter ‘ADDspeaker’ Vang

For more insight and argumentation supporting my opinion, please read:

Reference

Xiao, Z., Qiu, T., Ke, X., Xiao, X., Xiao, T., Liang, F., Zou, B., Huang, H., Fang, H., Chu, K., Zhang, J., & Liu, Y. (2014). Autism spectrum disorder as early neurodevelopmental disorder: evidence from the brain imaging abnormalities in 2-3 years old toddlers. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 44(7), 1633–1640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2033-x

Rajmohan, V., & Mohandas, E. (2007). The limbic system. Indian journal of psychiatry, 49(2), 132–139. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.33264

Leech, R., & Sharp, D. J. (2014). The role of the posterior cingulate cortex in cognition and disease. Brain : a journal of neurology, 137(Pt 1), 12–32. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt162

What is the Corpus Callosum!?, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318065 (13 October 2022)