Autism and the Brain. Neurophenomenological Interpretation

ABOUT THIS BOOK

• ​Interdisciplinary study that provides neurophenomenological analysis of autism
• Explores a new hypothesis of brain pattern underlying clinical manifestation of autism
• Strives to overcome reductionism of current neuroscience and link phenomenology, psychopathology and neuroscience
• Tracks the fundamental problem to part of the left hemisphere, which is responsible for awareness of personal identity – self, as one and apart from others

For years, the typical presentation of autism—the developmental delays, the social and linguistic deficits—has been well known. Despite great variation among children with this condition, certain symptoms are considered hallmarks of the disorder. Less understood is why these symptoms come together to construct autism. And as autism rates continue to rise, this information is ever more vital to accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Autism and the Brain offers answers by showing a new neuropsychology of the autistic spectrum, reviewing general brain organization, and relating specific regions and structures to specific clinical symptoms. The author identifies deficiencies in areas of the left-hemisphere associated with the self and identity as central to autism. From this primary damage, the brain further reorganizes to compensate, explaining the diverse behaviors among low- and high-functioning individuals as well as autistic savants. The result is a unique three-dimensional view of brain structure, function, and pathology, with in-depth focus on how the autistic brain:

• Perceives the world.
• Understands and uses words.
• Perceives faces.
• Understands spatial relations and numbers.
• Understands feelings and registers emotions.
• Perceives the self as separate from others.
• Acts in the world.

Challenging readers to re-think their assumptions, Autism and the Brain is breakthrough reading for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in fields as varied as child and adolescent psychiatry; clinical child, school, and developmental psychology; neuroscience/neurobiology; special education and educational psychology; social work; communication disorders; and public health and policy.

Content Level » Research
Keywords » ASD - Amygdala - Asperger’s Syndrome - Autism - Autistic savant - Brain imaging - Brain networks - Cerebral organization - Clinical manifestation - Cognitive theories - Cortical function - Empathizing-systemizing theory - Extravert - Face recognition - Function networks - Introvert - Left-hemisphere brain - Limbic emotion - Memory - Neuroanatomy - Neurophenomenological - OFC - Orbital frontal cortex - Parietal-occipital region - Pathogenesis - Penfield’s brain archive - Primary deficit - Right-hemisphere brain - Self - Sensory-motor function - Thalamo-parietal system - Theory of mind
Related subjects » Child & School Psychology - Medicine - Neuroscience - Psychology - Social Sciences

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Chapter I. Introduction.
• Chapter II. How autistic persons understand words.
• Chapter III. How autistic persons perceive the world.
• Chapter IV. How autistic persons perceive faces.
• Chapter V. How autistic persons act in the world.
• Chapter VI. How autistic persons perceive space and spatial relations.
• Chapter VII. How autistic persons feel.
• Chapter VIII. Autistic persons’ sense of self.
• Chapter IX. The left-hemispheric self in autism re-visited.
• Chapter X. Pieces of autism’s puzzle fall into place.​