Explanations of Autism (amygdala dysfunction)

Question 1

Describe the amygdala

Answer 1

Has 13 collections of nuclei in each brain under the temporal cortex
Has powerful influence through connections of behaviour associated with motivation, emotion and social interaction

Question 2

What hemispheres do you need to be able to socially interqact

Answer 2

Need prefrontal cortex and amygdala to be working efficiently for social interactions

Question 3

Amygdala development study

Answer 3

Nordahl et al (2012)
At 2 years old, amygdala is 6-9% larger then stalls so, in adolescence brain sizes are similar

Question 4

Link between frontal cortex and amygdala study

Answer 4

Baron-Cohen at al (2000)
Abnormal amygdala development in childhood affects operation of parts of the brain
Key cause of social behavioural deficits in ASD

Question 5

Role of amygdala in impaired social processing

Answer 5

People with ASD do not fully understand emotional expressions of others
Baron-Cohen showed that amygdala dysfunction impaired social processing
Participants given different eyes and had to say the emotion they felt
FMRI showed people with ASD had under-active left amygdala and could not tell their emotions

Question 6

Strength

Answer 6

Kennedy et al (2009)
Studied SM who did not have ASD but impaired amygdala
Her preferred personal space was half of a matched control participant
Showing amygdala is associated with social deficits

Question 7

CA of strength

Answer 7

Herbert et al (2003) reported smaller amygdala volumes in children with ASD compared with controls
other research findings from various age groups differ
casting doubt on the validity of the theory, meaning the role of the amygdala is still unclear

Question 8

Weakness

Answer 8

ASD is oversimplified
People with amygdala damage cant process anxiety-related information, so social functioning is impared
White et al (2009) suggests there may be a link between amygdala dysfunction and social behaviour deficits that are due to abnormal processing of anxiety
Showing role of amygdala in ASD is more complex than the conventional dysfunction explanation suggests

Question 9

Weakness

Answer 9

ASD is oversimplified
Several other brain structures are just as dysfunctional in ASD as the amygdala
Paul et al (2010) studied 2 women who only had amygdala damage
their social behaviour was not impaired to the extent found in ASD
Therefore, amygdala dysfunction on its own is probably not enough to fully account of symptoms of ASD

Question 10

What did Baron-Cohen find in patients with autism in relation to their amygdala

Answer 10

Baron-Cohen et al. (2000) found that patients with autism did not activate the amygdala when attempting to understand or make mental judgements on the emotions in other people’s eyes.
and the control group showed activity

Question 11

What does Baron-cohen’s findings suggest

Answer 11

suggests impairment of the amygdala is essential for explaining why those with autism lack social abilities, empathy, and the ability to make eye contact.

Question 12

Twin study

Answer 12

Taniai et al. (2008) researched 45 twin pairs aged 3–6. The results found a 95% concordance rate between monozygotic twins and 31% in dizygotic twins.

Question 13

Twin study weakness

Answer 13

Tainai et al. (2008) used a relatively small sample in Japan. Thus, the results may not be representative (ethnocentric) and generalisable.
and did not use empirical methods