Authors:
Whitehouse AJO; Stanley FJ
Authors notes:
The Medical journal of Australia. 2013;198(6):302-303
Keywords:
Autism spectrum disorders, neuropathways, disease origin, neurobiological, autisms
Abstract:
Elucidating the underlying nature of the disorder(s) is a crucial step towards tailoring intervention to the biological and cognitive makeup of each individual.
A recent study in the United States has provided clear evidence that intense and sustained behavioural therapy based on applied behavioural analysis principles can alter the neurological responses of children with autism to social stimuli, such as faces.
For the future, we can certainly hold the hope that these treatment effects would be even more pronounced once therapy is targeted to the neural substrates subserving autistic behaviours.
However, to get to this point, the question that research must answer is whether these neuropathways are the same for every individual who receives a diagnosis of autism.