People with autism 'have problem with self-awareness'
People with autism struggle in social situations
Scientists have produced evidence that self-awareness is a big problem for people with autism.
Sophisticated scans showed the brains of people with autism are less active when engaged in self-reflective thought.
The findings provide a neurological insight into why people with autism tend to struggle in social situations.
The study, by the University of Cambridge, appears in the journal Brain.
Autism has long been considered a condition of extreme egocentrism.
But research has shown the problem is people with the condition have trouble thinking about, and making sense of, themselves.
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance scans to measure brain activity in 66 male volunteers, half of whom had been diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder.
The volunteers were asked to make judgements either about their own thoughts, opinions, preferences, or physical characteristics, or about someone else's, in this case the Queen.
By scanning the volunteers' brains as they responded to these questions, the researchers were able to visualise differences in brain activity between those with and without autism.
They were particularly interested in part of the brain called the ventromedial pre-frontal cortex (vMPFC) - known to be active when people think about themselves.
The researchers found this area of the brain was more active when typical volunteers were asked questions about themselves compared with when they were thinking about the Queen.
However, in autism this brain region responded equally, irrespective of whether they were thinking about themselves or the Queen.
Researcher Michael Lombardo said the study showed that the autistic brain struggled to to process information about the self.
He said: "Navigating social interactions with others requires keeping track of the relationship between oneself and others.
"In some social situations it is important to notice that 'I am similar to you', while in other situations it might be important to notice that 'I am different to you'.
"The atypical way the autistic brain treats self-relevant information as equivalent to information about others could derail a child's social development, particularly in understanding how they relate to the social world around them."
Dr. Gina Gómez de la Cuesta, of the National Autistic Society, described the study as "interesting".
"We know many people with autism do want to interact with others and make friends but have difficulty recognising or understanding other people's thoughts and feelings.
"This research has shown that people with autism may also have difficulty understanding their own thoughts and feelings and the brain mechanisms underlying this."作者: lsqsmz 时间: 2009-12-14 21:18 标题: re:这倒是与最近看到的成人高功能自闭症自我认... 这倒是与最近看到的成人高功能自闭症自我认识方面颇为一致。文章说他们不仅仅迷失在人际关系中，他们也同样迷失在自己的时间，空间里。作者: binfeng2000 时间: 2009-12-14 21:39 标题: re:这个论题我是以前看见过，而且也同意，这“... 这个论题我是以前看见过，而且也同意，这“人”“我”不分的一个明显例子，就是你常常看见自闭症的孩子，看见别人桌上的薯条，他自己就去拿来当自己家的来吃。等他们大了以后，老是要以为别人想得和他想的一洋。所以要培养他和别人之间的“界限”，很重要。靠这个“界限”，让他明白自己和别人之间是不一样的。作者: BMW 时间: 2009-12-16 02:09 标题: re:这楼主,贴了英文不翻译也就罢了，重要的实... 这楼主,贴了英文不翻译也就罢了，重要的实验数据总要附上吧? 如下图， 是核磁扫描的照片，注意第二排左起第二个人，自闭。
作者: 燕原 时间: 2009-12-16 05:12 标题: re:hen xiang lao v hen xiang lao v
來自義大利的神經科醫師和神經科學家，目前是加州大學洛杉磯校區醫學院精神病學與生物行為科學教授，也是大腦定位中心跨顱磁刺激實驗室（Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab at the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center）主任。他的腦造影研究是人類鏡像神經元研究的先驅，《紐約時報》、《洛杉磯時報》和《華爾街日報》都曾報導過他的研究。
