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Scientific FACTS about Autism

David Rowland*
Independent Researcher registered with ORCID, Canada

Received Date: July 07, 2023; Accepted Date: July 19, 2024; Published Date: August 03, 2024
^*Corresponding author: David Rowland, Independent researcher registered with ORCID, Canada. Email: david222@hush.com

Citation: David Rowland (2024) Scientific FACTS about Autism. Jr Neuro Psycho and Brain Res: JNPBR-208

DOI: 10.37722/JNPABR.2024301

Abstract
      To try to explain what they do not understand about autism, the psychology professions have falsely supposed that autism is a disorder that belongs on a spectrum.  This erroneous supposition has created an epidemic of false diagnoses whereby 70% of those believed to be on this alleged spectrum are not autistic.  Autism is not a disorder.  It is a genetic neurophysiological difference in how the brain processes information.  Autistic people live in a specialized inner space that is entirely intellectual, free from emotional and social distractions.  They observe their outside world in detail, without any emotional attachment to what they see.    

Keywords:  Autism, Asperger, Asd, Neurophysiology, Neuropsychology

Introduction
Definition:  Autism is perpetual and unrelenting hyperfocus, the state of intense single-minded concentration fixated on one thing at a time, to the exclusion of everything else, including one’s own emotions.  The probable cause of hyperfocus is a dysfunctional cingulate gyrus (CG), the part of the brain which focuses attention. [1]

Description:  Autism is an inherent neurophysiological difference in how the brain processes information.  Autistic people live in a specialized inner space that is entirely intellectual, free from emotional and social distractions.  They observe the world in detail without feeling any emotional attachment to what they see. [1] 

      Autism is a neurophysiological idiosyncrasy.  The only thing different about an autistic brain is the specialized way in which it processes information.  As such, autism does not fit the medical definition of disorder (i.e., pathological or diseased condition of mind or body).  Mozart, Paganini, Newton, Darwin, Jefferson, Edison, Tesla, and Einstein were autistic and obviously not suffering from any mental pathology. [2]

Historical Research

       Autism, from the Greek word meaning self, was coined in 1911 by Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, who used it to describe withdrawal into one’s inner world. [3] Autistic children appear to be in a world of their own, isolated and alone with senses that can easily overload.  These children talk endlessly about one subject, engage in repetitive behaviors (e.g., wringing hands, rocking body), continually repeat words or phrases (echolalia), and are resistant to change. [4]

       In 1943, psychiatrist Leo Kanner studied the case histories of 11 highly intelligent children who shared a common set of symptoms consistent with autism:  the need for solitude, the need for sameness, and to be alone in a world that never varied. [5] Kanner assumed that these children came into the world without innate biologically provided ways of emotionally connecting with other people. [6]

       In 1944, medical professor Hans Asperger described “a particularly interesting and highly recognizable type of child who has an autistic personality that is an “extreme variant of male intelligence.”  Asperger described four boys who had severe difficulties of social integration that were compensated for by the high level of thought or experience that can lead to exceptional achievements in later life.  He chose the label autism for this condition as referring to an inherent fundamental disturbance of contact, the shutting off of self from the outside world. [7] Asperger remarked that for those boys, social adaptation has to proceed via the intellect, in fact they have to learn everything by the intellect.  He considered the autistic syndrome to be a stable personality trait that is genetically transmitted in families. [8]

       In 1962, psychiatrist Gerhard Bosch compared infantile autism to the Asperger autism syndrome and considered them to be two variants of the same condition. [9] In the family of the author of this article, one young lad has nonverbal autism; and his younger brother has Asperger’s, thus confirming that both conditions have the same genetic origin. [10]

       In 1979, psychiatrist Lorna Wing introduced the term Asperger syndrome to describe the autistic personality.  Wing personally examined 34 cases fitting Asperger’s description of the autism syndrome and found that they had the following 11 traits in common: [8]

• Single-mindedness combined with social isolation;
• Pedantic speech often consisting of lengthy discourses on favorite subjects;
• Poor comprehension of other people’s expressions and gestures;
• Tendency to misinterpret or ignore non-verbal signs;
• Impairment of two-way social interaction;
• Inability to understand rules of social behavior;
• Lack of the intuitive ability to adapt their approaches to fit in with the needs of others;
• Intensely attached to certain possessions;
• Excellent rote memories and intensely interested in one or two subjects;
• Absorb every available fact concerning their chosen field and talk about it at length; and
• Thought processes are confined to a pedantic, literal, and logical chain of reasoning.

       In 2020, David Rowland discovered that autism is caused by an inherent neurophysiological idiosyncrasy that creates a state of perpetual hyperfocus, which he defines as intense mental concentration fixated on one thought pattern at a time to the exclusion of everything else, including one’s own feelings. [10]  Hyperfocus is the sole factor responsible for the autistic person’s withdrawal into an inner space that is entirely intellectual.  Hyperfocus keeps a person’s awareness fixated in the analytical/logical left frontal lobe of the brain, with no ability to access whatever may be happening in the right frontal lobe, the place where emotions and social connectivity are felt.  Hyperfocus explains all 11 traits of Asperger syndrome as documented by Lorna Wing.

The False Spectrum
       Autism does not belong on any alleged spectrum.  There is only one autism, and it is 100%.  Either you are autistic, or you are not.

       In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association merged four disorders under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorder (ASD):  autism disorder, Asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).  This alleged spectrum is a basket catch-all for conditions of unknown similarity.

       The American Psychological Association defines autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as any one of a group of disorders typically occurring during the preschool years and characterized by varying difficulties in communication and social interaction.[11]   DSM-5, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders describes autism as being characterized by (1) persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction; and (2) restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.  These criteria are so vague as to be meaningless.

Epidemic of False Diagnoses

       In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 1 in 44 children were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, for a prevalence rate of 2.27% of the population.[12]  In 2012, a review of global prevalence of autism found 62 cases per 10,000 people, for a prevalence rate of 0.62%.[13]  This apparent 266% increase in autism prevalence is in stark contrast to all other disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), for which there have been no increase in prevalence over this same 6-year period.  These data suggest that 70% of those believed to be on the alleged spectrum are not autistic.

Neurophysiology of the Autistic Brain

The neurological structure of the autistic brain is the same as for any other brain.  What is different about the autistic brain is how it functions with respect to its neurophysiology.  EEG mapping of the autistic brain is summarized in the following table:

       In a neurotypical brain, the CG acts like an automatic transmission that seamlessly switches attention back and forth between frontal lobes, as needed.  In autism, a dysfunctional CG keeps the person’s attention fixated in the left frontal lobe (logical, analytical) – with no ability to access the right frontal lobe (emotional/creative), which plays a central role in spontaneity, social behavior, and nonverbal abilities.  Some neurotypical people are left-brain dominant, whereas others are right brain dominant.  Autistic people are left brain exclusive.  Their thinking is monotopic in that they naturally focus on one thing at a time, in great depth, and in a state of flow.   

       The right frontal lobe, the place where emotions are experienced, is inaccessible to autistic people.  The amygdala, the place where emotions are expressed, is inactive in the autistic brain.  These facts are consistent with Leo Kanner’s belief that autistic children come into the world without innate biologically provide ways of emotionally connecting with other people. [5]

       In a neurotypical brain, the amygdala processes emotions associated with fear and stores emotional memories.  When faced with a dangerous situation, the amygdala sounds an alarm that sets off a chain of events:  hormones course through the body, pupils dilate, heartrate increases, and the body experiences a “fight or flight” reaction.  In extreme situations, all nervous energy goes to the amygdala, which runs totally on instinct and emotion; and that part of the brain that uses logic shuts down completely.  In the autistic brain, none of this happens because the amygdala is nonfunctional.

Autistic Fearlessness

       Because the amygdala is inactive, autistic people are incapable of experiencing fear.  They have no involuntary fear response.  Innate fearlessness makes autistic children oblivious to dangerous or life-threatening situations.  Autistic adults who are faced with danger focus fully on the event itself while coldly calculating risks and mitigating factors that quickly form an immediate plan of action.

Emotions Processed Intellectually

       Autistic people process their emotions intellectually, a process that can take 24 hours or more, by which time it is too late to have felt anything.  Autistic people have no emotional reactions and no emotional memories.  All memories are of events that happened about which they felt no emotion at the time, and about which they feel no emotion when telling someone about it afterward.

       To autistic people, emotions are information.  They express love by what they do for others.  They express empathy by their generosity.  However, they are incapable of feeling either love or empathy.  

50 Autistic Traits have a Single Cause

       Hyperfocus restricts autistic people from being able to run two mental programs simultaneously.  Consequently, every autistic person has all 50 of the traits listed below. [14]

1. Hyperfocus is perpetual attention fixated on one thought pattern at a time, excluding all else.
2. Fickle focus is intermittent bouts of fixated attention.
   

   ---

Conclusions
       What makes the autistic brain different is its unique neurophysiology (i.e., how it functions).  The cingulate gyrus (CG) focuses attention exclusively in the left frontal lobe, creating perpetual and unrelenting hyperfocus, a state of intense single-minded concentration fixated on one thought pattern at a time to the exclusion of everything else.  The autistic brain is monotropic in that it naturally focuses on one thing at a time, in great depth, and in a state of flow.

       Autistic people live in a specialized inner space that is entirely intellectual, free from emotional and social distractions.  They observe the world in detail without feeling any emotional attachment to what they see.  Autistic children come into the world without innate biologically provided ways of emotionally connecting with other people.

       Autistic people are incapable of experiencing fear.  They have no involuntary fear response.  Innate fearlessness makes autistic children oblivious to dangerous or life-threatening situations.  Autistic adults who are faced with danger focus fully on the event itself while coldly calculating risks and mitigating factors that quickly form an immediate plan of action.

References

1. Rowland D. Redefining autism.  Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research 2020;(2).
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3. Blatt G. “Autism”, Encyclopedia Britannica.
4. Montgomery S. Temple Grandin.  New York, 2012: Houghton, Mifflon, Harcourt, p 22.
5. Kanner L. “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact”, Nervous Child, 1943.
6. Grandin T, Panek R. The Autistic Brain.  New York: 2014, First Mariner Books, pp 5-7.
7. Frith U. Autism and Asperger syndrome.  Cambridge, 1991: Cambridge University Press, pp 37-92.
8. Wing L. Asperger syndrome: a clinical account.  Psychological Medicine 1981;(11) :115-129.
9. Bosch G. Infantile Autism (trans: D. Jordan, I Jordan).  New York, 1970 : Springer-Vertag.
10. Rowland D. The neurophysiological cause of autism.  Journal of Neurology & Neurophysiology 2020;11(5):001-004.
11. “Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)”. APA Dictionary of Psychology.
12. “Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder”. Surveillance Summaries, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dec. 3, 2021.
13. Elsabbagh M, Divan G, et al. Global prevalence of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders.  Autism Research 2012;5:160-179.
14. Rowland D. Neurophysiology is what makes the autistic brain different.  Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research 2023;(2).
15. Rowland D. Differential diagnosis of autism: a causal analysis.  Journal of Neurology & Neurophysiology 2020;11:489.
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17. Baumgarten HG, Grizdanovic. Role of serotonin in obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Br J Psychiatry Suppl 1998;(35): 13-20.