Most studies of language acquisition since Chomsky's break-through in linguistics have all utilized as a theoretical base various theories of cognitive development out of which words, phrases, and meanings are created. This study attempts to outline the underpinnings of language ontogenetically and to show the role of affective engagements with caretakers. Some of the prelinguistic aspects of language development are examined in relation to the volution of language function. The newborn infant engages and terminates visual, kinesthetic, oral, and sound reciprocity with the mother, as shown in the cough-smile game, thus providing the infant a significant measure of control over these reciprocal exchanges. The social smile, modulations thereof, and the face itself become organizers of meaningful vocalization, a focal point around which phonemes emerge from the mutuality of the mother-infant relationship. The evolution and meaning of the pointing gesture as it relates to language functioning and to the stages of separation-individuation is discussed. It is suggested that the child's capacity to evaluate the context of utterances in relation to dynamically integrated facial-vocal configurations with familiar caretakers provides the basis for the development of semantics and syntax in later language functioning.
Sixteen high-functioning adults with a history of childhood autism and 26 normal control subjects underwent [18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron-emission tomography to assess regional cerebral glucose metabolic rate (GMR). Autistic patients had a left > right anterior rectal gyrus asymmetry, as opposed to the normal right > left asymmetry in that region. Patients also showed low GMR in the left posterior putamen and high GMR in the right posterior calcarine cortex. Brain regions with GMR > 3 SD from the normal mean were more prevalent in patients than in control subjects. This variable pattern of abnormal activity is consistent with heterogeneous neurophysiological etiology; group differences in striatum and cortex may represent a final common pathway.
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