The ‘amygdala theory of autism’ revisited: Linking structure to behavior

Dziobek, Isabel; Fleck, Stefan; Rogers, Kimberley; Wolf, Oliver T.; Convit, Antonio

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.02.005

Cited by 75 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Accordingly, primary limbic dysfunction does not underlie ASD and any changes in cortical morphology or functional status are either incidental and/or follow-on effects. Consistent with the latter thesis, amygdala volume in a group of 17 adult subjects with Asperger syndrome did not correlate positively with emotional and social understanding as it did in controls, but did show a negative association with narrow interest patterns (Dziobek et al 2006). …”

Section: Significance Of Cortical Findingssupporting

confidence: 61%

A theory inspired proposal for a novel medical treatment in autism. The cerebellar model of autism and the hypothesis of dorsal stream dysfunction: evidence from idiopathic and syndromic cases.

Vakalopoulos¹

2017

Preprint

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The cerebellum figures prominently in the pathophysiology of idiopathic autism. Many syndromic comorbid cases and animal studies also highlight cerebellar involvement. The role of the cerebellum is implicated in cognitive and affective disorders. However, there remains a profound gap in understanding the route from genes, the effect of mutations on Purkinje cells and ultimately the behavioural phenotype. Given that conditions like autism are disorders of consciousness it is likely that progress will be made beyond the data generating enterprise, by improved theoretical models of the mind-body gap. A way forward is the proposal of consciousness as embodiment of a process of world discovery through motor efference copy. The cerebellum and basal ganglia are essential to a component theory of motor efference copy, providing a heuristic for understanding the structure of cortical dorsal and ventral stream pathways of a sensory modality. This then, further suggests that autism results from a selective dorsal stream dysfunction with all the attendant and hierarchical features that follow such a model and lead to both high level social and attentional deficits as well as lower level motor and restrictive interests. The paper aims to present evidence for dorsal stream dysfunction and how it may relate to a primary cerebellar pathology. The involvement of the cerebellum in most if not all syndromic cases of comorbid ASD is then presented. Finally, it is shown how such insights can be used to propose a general medical intervention based on the use of cerebellar rTMS across the disorder spectrum.

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Section: Significance Of Cortical Findingssupporting

confidence: 61%

A theory inspired proposal for a novel medical treatment in autism. The cerebellar model of autism and the hypothesis of dorsal stream dysfunction: evidence from idiopathic and syndromic cases.

Vakalopoulos¹

2017

Preprint

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“…Reduced amygdala activation has further been seen in a few functional imaging studies related to emotional processing (Baron-Cohen et al 1999;Critchley et al 2000), whereas some more recent fMRI studies of socio-emotional processing suggest normal levels of amygdalar activity (Pierce et al 2004;Piggot et al 2004). Intriguing correlations have also been found between amygdala volume and performance on socioemotional tests (Dziobek et al 2006). …”

Section: Brain Anatomymentioning

confidence: 95%

The study of autism as a distributed disorder

Müller

2007

Ment. Retard. Dev. Disabil. Res. Rev.

172

135

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Past autism research has often been dedicated to tracing the causes of the disorder to a localized neurological abnormality, a single functional network, or a single cognitive-behavioral domain. In this review, I argue that autism is a 'distributed disorder' on various levels of study (genetic, neuroanatomical, neurofunctional, behavioral). 'Localizing' models are therefore not promising. The large array of potential genetic risk factors suggests that multiple (or all) emerging functional brain networks are affected during early development. This is supported by widespread growth abnormalities throughout the brain. Interactions during development between affected functional networks and atypical experiential effects (associated with atypical behavior) in children with autism further complicate the neurological bases of the disorder, resulting in an 'exponentially distributed' profile. Promising approaches to a better characterization of neural endophenotypes in autism are provided by techniques investigating white matter and connectivity, such as MR spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and functional connectivity MRI. According to a recent hypothesis, the autistic brain is generally characterized by 'underconnectivity'. However, not all findings are consistent with this view. The concepts and methodology of functional connectivity need to be refined and results need to be corroborated by anatomical studies (such as DTI tractography) before definitive conclusions can be drawn.

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“…[41,42] In particular, functional dysregulation of the amygdala is considered central to the social deficits observed in individuals with ASD. [43] Although this "amygdala theory of autism" has been challenged by some, [44] there is certainly evidence that the amygdala has relevance for the development of social behavior and socio-emotional processing across species. Amygdala lesions in humans and non-human primates seem to diminish social inhibition and limit social perception, increasing social interaction and interfering with adherence to social norms.…”

Section: Mood Disorders and Amygdala Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gutsy Moves: The Amygdala as a Critical Node in Microbiota to Brain Signaling

et al. 2017

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The amygdala is a key brain area regulating responses to stress and emotional stimuli, so improving our understanding of how it is regulated could offer novel strategies for treating disturbances in emotion regulation. As we review here, a growing body of evidence indicates that the gut microbiota may contribute to a range of amygdala-dependent brain functions from pain sensitivity to social behavior, emotion regulation, and therefore, psychiatric health. In addition, it appears that the microbiota is necessary for normal development of the amygdala at both the structural and functional levels. While further investigations are needed to elucidate the exact mechanisms of microbiota-to-amygdala communication, ultimately, this work raises the intriguing possibility that the gut microbiota may become a viable treatment target in disorders associated with amygdala dysregulation, including visceral pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and beyond. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/O5gvxVJjX18

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The ‘amygdala theory of autism’ revisited: Linking structure to behavior

Cited by 75 publications

References 62 publications

A theory inspired proposal for a novel medical treatment in autism. The cerebellar model of autism and the hypothesis of dorsal stream dysfunction: evidence from idiopathic and syndromic cases.

A theory inspired proposal for a novel medical treatment in autism. The cerebellar model of autism and the hypothesis of dorsal stream dysfunction: evidence from idiopathic and syndromic cases.

The study of autism as a distributed disorder

Gutsy Moves: The Amygdala as a Critical Node in Microbiota to Brain Signaling

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