Re:[autismo-biologia] [Autism] research: mirror neuron system functions normally in ASD (fwd)

mario.lambiase1931 mario.lambiase1931 a libero.it
Gio 3 Giu 2010 10:03:23 CEST


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>From      : autismo-biologia-bounces a autismo33.it
To          : "lista autismo-biologia" autismo-biologia a autismo33.it
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Date      : Thu, 20 May 2010 15:00:44 +0200 (CEST)
Subject : [autismo-biologia] [Autism] research: mirror neuron system functions normally in ASD (fwd)

Caro Fortini, so che Lei č una persona preparata e attenta agli studi sull'autismo.
Poichč recentemente mi č stato chiesto da una associazione di genitori di dare un parere su autismo e neuroni specchio,mando in copia anche a Lei queste mie osservazioni che La prego di leggere con attenzione e pacatezza.
Vedrą che ci sono delle cose interessanti su questi aspetti neurobiologici dell'autismo che non si  possono eliminare sic et simpliciter.
Ovviamente nessuno ha il deposito della veritą e tanto meno lo scrivente ,ma č sempre bene vedere le cose da un orizzonte ampio e privo di pregiudizi.
Se vuole, posso mandarle anche tanti miei lavori pubblicati sull'argomento e ...qualche cosina di interessante e di originale con i neuroni specchio (che ci sono e come! basterebbe il lavoro di Dinstein.aprovarlo Come avrebbe fatto a farlo se questi non ci fosssero stati!)
Che poi abbiamo o meno rapporti con l'autismo č solo una delle ipotesi che io mi sono sforzato di spiegare.. dato 
Ci sembra che ci aiuti a capire qualcosina
Molti cari saluti
Con amicizia
Mario Lambiase




> vi allego un lavoro da cui sembra che i mirrors, se pure esistono, non 
> abbiano effetto alcuno sull' autismo.
> 
> Pierluigi Fortini
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 07:35:40 -0400
> From: "Gail Schrimmer, PhD" <drgs a comcast.net>
> Reply-To: International general autism support and information.
>      <autism a lists.apana.org>
> To: International general autism support and information.
>      <autism a lists.apana.org>
> Subject: [Autism] research: mirror neuron system functions normally in ASD
> 
> Title:  Researchers find mirror neuron system functions normally in
> individuals with autism
> 
> This news release can be found at this web address < http://bit.ly/bwQ3fs >
> 
> A team of neuroscientists has found that the mirror neuron system, which is
> thought to play a central role in social communications, responds normally
> in individuals with autism. Their findings, reported in the journal Neuron,
> counter theories suggesting that a mirror system dysfunction causes the
> social difficulties exhibited by individuals with autism.
> 
> The mirror neuron system, the focal point of the Neuron study, is composed
> of two brain areas, which have a unique characteristic-they are active both
> when we execute movements (e.g. grasping a cup of coffee) and when we
> passively observe other people executing those same movements. It has been
> known for many years that these brain areas are important for proper motor
> control because trauma to these areas causes movement deficits. Yet it has
> only recently been discovered that these brain areas respond when passively
> observing others. It has been proposed that this activity represents a
> process of "movement simulation" that enables us to understand the meanings
> and the goals of movements we observe.
> 
> For the simulation process to work properly, it is imperative that we
> simulate the exact same movement we are observing. This means that neurons
> within our mirror system must recognize movements and respond with a unique,
> movement-selective, response to each (or else we“ll confuse different
> movements and attribute improper goals to the person we“re observing).
> 
> Because individuals with autism have difficulty communicating socially and
> understanding the emotions and intentions of others, it has been
> hypothesized that they may have a dysfunction in their mirror neuron system.
> This hypothesis has received a tremendous amount of attention in both the
> popular and scientific literatures following a number of studies that
> reported weak mirror neuron system responses in individuals with autism. The
> issue of movement-selectivity, however, had not been addressed in these
> studies.
> 
> To further test this influential theory, the researchers asked individuals
> with autism and a control group to observe and execute different hand
> movements while being scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging
> (fMRI). The fMRI measurements allowed the researchers to infer the strength
> of neural responses in mirror system areas of each group during movement
> observation and execution. Their results showed that mirror system areas of
> individuals with autism not only responded strongly during movement
> observation, but did so in a movement-selective manner such that different
> movements exhibited unique neural responses. The mirror system responses of
> individuals with autism were, therefore, equivalent to those commonly
> reported (and observed here) for controls.
> 
> These results, they conclude, argue strongly against the "dysfunctional
> mirror system hypothesis of autism" because they show that mirror system
> areas respond normally in individuals with autism. The authors, therefore,
> suggest that it may be more productive to re-focus autism research in more
> promising directions.
> 
> The study“s co-authors are: Ilan Dinstein, a former graduate student at New
> York University and now a postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute in
> Israel; Cibu Thomas, Kate Humphreys, and Marlene Behrmann from Carnegie
> Mellon University; Nancy Minshew from the University of Pittsburgh; and
> David Heeger from New York University.
> 
> The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health,
> Cure Autism Now, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
> 



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