Commentary: Complementary approaches to the developmental cognitive neuroscience of autism - reflections on Pelphrey et al. (2011).

摘要

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are currently defined on the basis of observable behavior, with diagnostic criteria allow for enormous heterogeneity. In principle, two hypothetical individuals can receive a diagnosis of "autistic disorder" despite evidencing entirely non-overlapping symptoms. There is a growing sense that this heterogeneity stands as a major obstacle to further progress in understanding the causes of ASDs. In the current issue, however, Pelphrey, Hudac, Schulz & Vander Wyk (2011) argue that researchers have "over-emphasised the heterogeneity in ASD" by failing to recognize "the homogeneity of core disruptions in social information processing". Focusing on brain regions implicated in social cognition, they suggest, will "constrain" the heterogeneity problem. In what follows, I outline some of the challenges for this, approach to autism and advocate a complementary research strategy that seeks instead to capitalize on autistic heterogeneity.