The National Autism Association claimed that people with ASD, also termed as an autism spectrum disorder, have weak neural suppressions which makes them their sensory receptors more immune to catch impulses from their surroundings.
Thus, their responses to the stimuli are slowed down. When they enter an environment, which has many visual and hearing stimuli, the sensory system becomes crowded while it’s trying to perceive all those responses from outside.
This bounds their perceptions and reduces the activity of the neuro-center, more than one without the disorder.
The idea that has been described above is also supported by the findings published in the Nature Communications journal, by a researcher from the University of Minnesota Medical School.
The investigation showed the difference between the visual perception in both people with and without autism. Thus, proving the fact that there are much weaker neural suppressions found in people with ASD.
However, scientists and psychiatrists still don’t have the answers to why this occurs in people who have been diagnosed with this disorder. They are still searching for how differently their neuro-centers react to external changes.
A team of researchers from the University of Washington with assistant professor Michael-Paul Schallmo, from the Psychiatry department of the U of M Medical School and Scott Murray, a researcher from the Human Development and disability department, who is also a professor of Psychology.
Using MRI and other visual tests, they tested the visual perception of 28 autistic adults and 35 without the disorder.
The results fascinated the researchers as it showed that the people with ASD had unique and better visuals to large-moving stimuli than people who don’t have the disorder.
Each person with ASD had different levels of perception, thus showing that there is less weak suppression in the neural visual cortex of the brain.
This made them think about the difference in the structure and computation of the brain that results in different responses.
With the research of ASD, Schallmo is also studying several other disorders and has a great understanding of how the brain functions in people with disorders such as Tourette Syndrome, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and attention deficit hyperactivity.
He says that further research may help children who are standing on the border of autism or are already showing the symptoms and signs. By making discoveries about the responsiveness and activity of the brain in people with ASD, the scientists may get a clear view.
This may also assist them by igniting a light of hope and leading to the invention of new medical treatments and methods for this disorder.
