me and my amygdala will never look you in the eye
New study out of the University of Wisconsin correlates autistic behaviors (including lack of eye-contact) with size of the amygdala. Also, when looking at non-autistic siblings of autistic individuals, they found similar pattern of smaller amygdalae and decreased eye-fixation as the autistic sibs when looking at faces.
"Together, these results provide the first evidence linking objective measures of social impairment and amygdala structure and related brain function in autism," explained Davidson. "Finding many of the same differences, albeit more moderate, in well siblings helps to confirm that autism is likely the most severe expression of a broad spectrum of genetically-influenced characteristics." [emphasis added]
While some people with minimal expression of these traits might be perceived as aloof or loners, those at the more severe end of the spectrum are unable to engage in give-and-take interactions and fail to develop age-appropriate peer relationships. Notably, they shy away from looking at eyes. [emphasis added] Davidson's research team had reported last year linked such eye-gazing with hyperactivation of their fear hub.** Yet different studies have found the amygdala in autism to be variously enlarged, shrunken or even normal in size.
While the Borg Collective acknowledges several of our weirdnesses to seem to run in our family, its nice to know that their may be a genetic basis for them. For example, I find it almost painful to make sustained eye contact with people. With practice, I can do it for a little while. While most people do notice it, they usually don't tell me until I bring it up and explain it's part of my neurological wiring.
(Now if some neurological researchers can explain why I really hate "clickie" (When M. channel surfs at a rapid fire speed), there is something about the rapid-fire change of images/sounds that drive my brain crazy.)
"Together, these results provide the first evidence linking objective measures of social impairment and amygdala structure and related brain function in autism," explained Davidson. "Finding many of the same differences, albeit more moderate, in well siblings helps to confirm that autism is likely the most severe expression of a broad spectrum of genetically-influenced characteristics." [emphasis added]
While some people with minimal expression of these traits might be perceived as aloof or loners, those at the more severe end of the spectrum are unable to engage in give-and-take interactions and fail to develop age-appropriate peer relationships. Notably, they shy away from looking at eyes. [emphasis added] Davidson's research team had reported last year linked such eye-gazing with hyperactivation of their fear hub.** Yet different studies have found the amygdala in autism to be variously enlarged, shrunken or even normal in size.
While the Borg Collective acknowledges several of our weirdnesses to seem to run in our family, its nice to know that their may be a genetic basis for them. For example, I find it almost painful to make sustained eye contact with people. With practice, I can do it for a little while. While most people do notice it, they usually don't tell me until I bring it up and explain it's part of my neurological wiring.
(Now if some neurological researchers can explain why I really hate "clickie" (When M. channel surfs at a rapid fire speed), there is something about the rapid-fire change of images/sounds that drive my brain crazy.)