Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is complicated. It refers to a host of complex neurodevelopment disorders, all of which are characterized by repetitive patterns of behavior and difficulties with social connection and interaction. These symptoms, such as the inability to make eye contact or to talk about feelings, repeated phrases, or overly focused attention to certain objects or subjects, begin early in childhood and continue to affect daily functioning throughout the person’s life.
If we look to the brain for answers or diagnosis, we won’t necessarily find it—at least not easily. Imaging techniques allow us to see differences that we can measure; but, it is difficult to tell an autistic brain from a brain without ASD with enough sensitivity and specificity to prognosis, or even diagnosis.
The connections within a brain bring it to life. And it’s the brain cells or neurons that act as messengers. When a brain cell is active, it creates an electrical impulse that gets propagated to other cells in the brain. We think that electrical activity holds the basis of thought and behavior and how the brain functions.
When comparing the functional connectivity of ASD brains and unaffected brains, researchers see some networks with lower connectivity, especially in patterns where the distance between brain regions is greater.
In autism there’s short-range over-connectivity and long-range under-connectivity, so, for tasks that require us to combine or assimilate information in different parts of the brain, like social function and complex motor tasks, individuals with autism have more trouble. And when there’s a particular task focused on the single brain region that primarily involves activities like paying attention to specific features in the world around us, individuals with autism tend to be quite good or even better than usual.
Ref- https://www.psycom.net/autism-brain-differences
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