Children with autism: amygdala is the culprit

China Daily website message why children with autism can\'t look to others, even their own parents or teachers? United States scientists published on 6th, a new study has found, this is because they have a special area in the brain, signals with a threatening face judgment from others, eliciting an overreaction.

Autism is the most common mental disorders in children, sick children and others there is a communication barrier. Dare not look into the faces of others, or eye contact with others, are obvious symptoms of autism in children. United States researchers at the University of Wisconsin in the new issue of the papers published in nature neuroscience said, they track eye movements and various regions of the brain activity of children, found that when children with autism when watching someone else\'s face, the brain is responsible for judging foreign threatening visual signals in the amygdala region of unusually active, trigger negative emotions. Since then due to illness of children removed from the eye, is responsible for judging others face visual signals in the brain of fusiform face area is active enough.

And for normal children, they face up to the others face does not cause the amygdala area when active, fusiform face area can handle enough Visual information, to judge other people\'s faces. Prior to this had been considered by the medical profession, cannot look others in children with autism, there is because the fusiform face area of the brain dysfunction, University of Wisconsin reveals the latest research results, amygdala is the \"culprit\".

This study includes two comparative experiments. In the first experiment, researchers in children with autism and normal children watch two face photos respectively, is an expression of excitement, the other is a normal expression, and then let the children photo expressions judged separately, at the same time researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging observation on children\'s brain activity and track eye movement of children.

In the second experiment, the researchers let the children watch respectively facial photographs of familiar and unfamiliar people, observing their brain and eye movement. Two experiments show that, regardless of what type of face photographs of children with autism have similar fear reactions, while the normal reaction varies.

Professor Richard Davidson believes that this research under the auspices, amygdala dysfunction in children with autism, will face judgment of anyone they see as a threat, fear of brain response forced child afraid to face the other person. The research results provide new clues for treatment of autism. At the same time, because autism is the most with hereditary mental illness, new research results prompted scientists thinking whether it is a genetic origin.