Understanding autism: Insights from mind and brain

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volumn 358, Issue 1430, 2003, Pages 281-289

  Hill, Elisabeth L ^a   Frith, Uta ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Asperger syndrome; Autism; Executive dysfunction; Phenotype; Theory of mind; Weak central coherence

Indexed keywords

AUTISM;

EID: 0037470346     PISSN: 09628436     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1209     Document Type: Review

References (97)

1. Abell, F., Krams, M., Ashburner, J., Passingham, R., Friston, K., Frakowiak, R., Happé, F., Frith, C. & Frith, U. 1999 The neuroanatomy of autism: a voxel-based whole brain analysis of structural scans. Neuroreport 10, 1647-1651.
2. American Psychiatric Association 1994 Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
3. Asperger, H. 1944 'Autistic psychopathy' in childhood. In Autism and Asperger syndrome (ed. U. Frith), pp. 37-92. Cambridge University Press.
4. Aylward, E. H., Minshew, N. J., Goldstein, G., Honeycutt, N. A., Augustine, A. M., Yates, K. O., Barta, P. E. & Pearlson, G. D. 1999 MRI volumes of amygdala and hippocampus in non-mentally retarded autistic adolescents and adults. Neurology 53, 2145-2150.
5. Bailey, A., Le Couteur, A., Gottesman, I., Bolton, P., Simonoff, E., Yuzda, E. & Rutter, A. 1995 Autism as a strongly genetic disorder: evidence from a British twin study. Psychol. Med. 25, 63-77.
6. Bailey, A., Luthert, P., Dean, A., Harding, B., Janota, I., Montgomery, M., Rutter, M. & Lantos, P. 1998a A clinicopathological study of autism. Brain 121, 889-905.
7. Bailey, A., Palferman, S., Heavey, L. & Le Couteur, A. 1998b Autism: the phenotype in relatives. J. Autism Devl Disorders 28, 369-392.
8. Baird, G., Charman, T., Baron-Cohen, S., Cox, A., Swettenham, J., Wheelwright, S. & Drew, A. 2000 A screening instrument for autism at 18 months of age: a 6 year follow-up study. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolescent Psychiatry 39, 694-702.
9. Baron-Cohen, S. 2002 The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends Cogn. Sci. 6, 248-254.
10. Baron-Cohen, S. & Hammer, J. 1997 Parents of children with Asperger syndrome: what is the cognitive phenotype? J. Cogn. Neurosci. 9, 548-554.
11. Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. & Frith, U. 1985 Does the autistic child have a 'theory of mind'? Cognition 21, 37-46.
12. Baron-Cohen, S. T., Tager-Flusberg, H. & Cohen, D. J. 1993 Understanding other minds. Perspectives from autism. Oxford University Press.
13. Baron-Cohen, S., Tager-Flusberg, H. & Cohen, D. J. 2000 Understanding other minds. Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience. Oxford University Press.
14. Baron-Cohen, S., Ring, H., Williams, S., Wheelwright, S., Bullmore, E., Brammer, M. & Andrew, C. 1999a Social intelligence in the normal and autistic brain: a fMRI study. Eur. J. Psychiatry 11, 1891-1898.
15. Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Stone, V. & Rutherford, M. 1999b A mathematician, a physicist and a computer scientist with Asperger syndrome: performance on psychology and folk physics tests. Neurocase 5, 475-483.
16. Bartlett, F. C. 1932 Remembering: a study in experimental social psychology. Cambridge University Press.
17. Bauman, M. L. & Kemper, K. L. 1994 Neuroanatomical observations of the brain in autism. In The neurobiology of autism (ed. M. L. Bauman & K. L. Kemper), pp. 119-145. Baltimore, MA: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
18. Bennetto, L., Pennington, B. F. & Rogers, S. J. 1996 Intact and impaired memory functions in autism. Child Devl 67, 1816-1835.
19. Bettelheim, B. 1967 The empty fortress: infantile autism and the birth of the self. New York: The Free Press.
20. Bíro, S. & Russell, J. 2001 The execution of arbitrary procedures by children with autism. Devl Psychopathol. 13, 97-110.
21. Brunet, E., Sarfate, Y., Hardy-Bayle, M. C. & Decety, J. 2000 A PET investigation of the attribution of intentions with a nonverbal task. Neuroimage 11, 157-166.
22. Burkhalter, A. 1993 Development of forward and feedback connections between areas V1 and V2 of human visual cortex. Cerebral Cortex 3, 476-487.
23. Castelli, F., Happé, F., Frith, U. & Frith, C. D. 2000 Movement and mind: a functional imaging study of perception and interpretation of complex intentional movement patterns. Neuroimage 12, 314-325.
24. Castelli, F., Frith, C., Happé, F. & Frith, U. 2002 Autism, Asperger syndrome and brain mechanisms for the attribution of mental states to animated shapes. Brain 125, 1839-1849.
25. Chakrabarti, S. & Fombonne, E. 2001 Pervasive developmental disorders in preschool children. J. Am. Medical Association 285, 3093-3099.
26. Cody, H., Pelphrey, K. & Piven, J. 2002 Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging of autism. Int. Devl Neurosci. 766, 1-18.
27. Courchesne, E., Yeung-Courchesne, R., Press, G. A., Hesselink, J. R. & Jernigan, T. L. 1988 Hypoplasia of cerebellar vermal lobule-Vi and lobule-Vii in autism. New England J. Med. 318, 1349-1354.
28. Courchesne, E. (and 15 others) 2001 Unusual brain growth patterns in early life in patients with autistic disorder: a MRI study. Neurology 57, 245-254.
29. Critchley, H. D. (and 10 others) 2000 The functional neuroanatomy of social behaviour: changes in cerebral blood flow when people with autistic disorder process facial expressions. Brain 123, 2203-2212.
30. Dawson, G., Munson, J., Estes, A., Osterling, J., McPartland, J., Toth, K., Carver, L. & Abbott, R. 2002 Neurocognitive function and joint attention ability in young children with autism spectrum disorder versus developmental delay. Child Dev. 73, 345-358.
31. Dewey, M. 1991 Living with Asperger's syndrome. In Autism and Asperger syndrome (ed. U. Frith), pp. 184-206. Cambridge University Press.
32. Farrington, C. P., Miller, E. & Taylor, B. 2001 MMR and autism: further evidence against a causal association. Vaccine 19, 3632-3635.
33. Fink, G. R., Halligan, P. W., Marshall, J. C., Frith, C. D., Frackowiak, R. S. J. & Dolan, R. J. 1997 Neural mechanisms involved in the processing of global and local aspects of hierarchically organized visual stimuli. Brain 120, 1779-1791.
34. Fletcher, P. C., Happé, F., Frith, U., Baker, S. C., Dolan, R. J., Frackowiak, R. S. J. & Frith, C. D. 1995 Other minds in the brain: a functional imaging study of 'theory of mind' in story comprehension. Cognition 57, 109-128.
35. Frith, C. D. 2003 What do imaging studies tell us about the neural basis of autism? In Autism: neural basis and treatment possibilities (ed. M. Rutter), Novartis Foundation. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
36. Frith, U. 1989 Autism. Explaining the enigma. Oxford: Blackwell.
37. Frith, U. 2001 Mindblindness and the brain in autism. Neuron 32, 969-979.
38. Frith, U. & Snowling, M. 1983 Reading for meaning and reading for sound in autistic and dyslexic children. J. Devl Psychol. 1, 329-342.
39. Gallagher, H., Happé, F., Brunswick, N., Fletcher, P. C., Frith, U. & Frith, C. D. 2000 Reading the mind in cartoons and stories: a fMRI study of 'theory of mind' in verbal and non-verbal tasks. Neuropsychologia 38, 11-21.
40. Gerland, G. 1997 A real person: life on the outside. (trans. J. Tate). London: Souvenir.
41. Gilchrist, A., Green, J., Cox, A., Burton, D., Rutter, M. & Le Couteur, A. 2001 Development and current functioning in adolescents with Asperger syndrome: a comparative study. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 42, 227-240.
42. Gillberg, C. & Coleman, M. 2000 The biology of the autistic syndromes, 3rd edn. London: MacKeith Press.
43. Griffith, E. M., Pennington, B. F., Wehner, E. A. & Rogers, S. J. 1999 Executive functions in young children with autism. Child Dev. 70, 817-832.
44. Halsey, N. A. & Hyman, S. L. 2001 Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autistic spectrum disorder: report from the New Challenges in childhood immunizations conference convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12-13. Pediatrics 107, E84.
45. Happé, F. G. E. 1994 An advanced test of theory of mind: understanding of story characters' thoughts, and feelings by able autistic, mentally handicapped, and normal children and adults. J. Autism Devl Disorder 24, 129-154.
46. Happé, F. G. E. 1997 Central coherence and theory of mind in autism: reading homographs in context. Br. J. Devl Psychol. 15, 1-12.
47. Happé, F. 1999 Autism: cognitive deficit or cognitive style? Trends Cogn. Sci. 3, 216-222.
48. Happé, F., Briskman, J. & Frith, U. 2001 Exploring the cognitive phenotype of autism: weak 'central coherence' in parents and siblings of children with autism: I. experimental tests. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 42, 299-307.
49. Happé, F., Ehlers, S., Fletcher, S., Frith, U., Johannsson, M., Gillberg, C., Dolan, R., Frackowiak, R. & Frith, C. 1996 'Theory of mind' in the brain. Evidence from a PET scan study of Asperger syndrome. Neuroreport 8, 197-201.
50. Haznedar, M. M., Buchsbaum, M. S., Wei, T. C., Hof, P. R., Cartwright, C., Bienstock, C. A. & Hollander, E. 2001 Limbic circuitry in patients with autism spectrum disorders, studies with positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Am. J. Psychiatry 157, 1994-2001.
51. Heaton, R. K., Chelune, G. J., Talley, J. L., Kay, G. G. & Curtiss, G. 1993 Wisconsin card sorting rest manual: revised and expanded. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
52. Heinze, H. J., Hinrichs, H., Scholz, M., Burchert, W. & Mangun, R. 1998 Neural mechanisms of global and local processing: a combined PET and ERP study. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 10, 485-498.
53. Hermelin, B. 2002 Bright splinters of the mind. A personal story of research with autistic savants. London: Jessica Kingsley.
54. Hobson, R. P. 1993 Autism and the development of mind. Hove, Sussex: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
55. Hughes, C. & Russell, J. 1993 Autistic children's difficulty with mental disengagement from an object: its implications for theories of autism. Devl Psychol. 29, 498-510.
56. Hughes, C., Russell, J. & Robbins, T. W. 1994 Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism. Neuropsychologia 32, 477-492.
57. Hughes, C., Leboyer, M. & Bouvard, M. 1997 Executive function in parents of children with autism. Psychol. Med. 27, 209-220.
58. Hughes, C., Plumet, M.-H. & Leboyer, M. 1999 Towards a cognitive phenotype for autism: increased prevalence of executive dysfunction and superior spatial span amongst siblings of children with autism. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 40, 705-718.
59. Huttenlocher, P. R. & Dabholkar, A. S. 1997 Regional differences in synaptogenesis in human cerebral cortex. J. Comp. Neurol. 387, 167-178.
60. International Molecular Genetic Study of Autism Consortium 1998 A full genome screen for autism with evidence for linkage to a region on chromosome 7q. Hum. Mol. Genet. 7, 571-578.
61. Jolliffe, T. & Baron-Cohen, S. 1997 Are people with autism or Asperger syndrome faster than normal on the embedded figures test? J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 38, 527-534.
62. Jolliffe, T. & Baron-Cohen, S. 1999 A test of central coherence theory: linguistic processing in high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome: is local coherence impaired? Cognition 71, 149-185.
63. Kanner, L. 1943 Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child 2, 217-250.
64. Kemper, K. L. & Bauman, M. L. 1998 Neuropathology of infantile autism. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. 57, 645-652.
65. Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R., Volkmar, F. & Cohen, D. 2002 Defining and quantifying the social phenotype in autism. Am. J. Psychiatry 159, 895-908.
66. Lainhart, J. E., Piven, J., Wzorek, M., Landa, R., Santangelo, S. L., Coon, H. & Folstein, S. E. 1997 Macrocephaly in children and adults with autism. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolescent Psychiatry 36, 282-290.
67. Maestrini, E., Paul, A., Monaco, A. P. & Bailey, A. 2000 Identifying autism susceptibility genes. Neuron 28, 19-24.
68. Mottron, L. & Belleville, S. 1993 A study of perceptual analysis in a high-level autistic subject with exceptional graphic abilities. Brain Cogn 23, 279-309.
69. Mottron, L., Peretz, I. & Ménard, E. 2000 Local and global processing of music in high-functioning persons with autism: beyond central coherence? J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 41, 1057-1065.
70. Ohnishi, T., Matsuda, H., Hashimoto, T., Kunihiro, T., Nishikawa, M., Uema, T. & Sasaki, M. 2000 Abnormal regional cerebral blood flow in childhood autism. Brain 123, 1838-1844.
71. Ozonoff, S. 1995 Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin card sorting test in studies of autism. Neuropsychology 9, 491-500.
72. Ozonoff, S. & Jensen, J. 1999 Brief report: specific executive function profiles in three neurodevelopmental disorders. J. Autism Devl. Disorders 29, 171-177.
73. Ozonoff, S. & McEvoy, R. E. 1994 A longitudinal study of executive function and theory of mind development in autism. Dev. Psychopathol. 6, 415-431.
74. Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B. F. & Rogers, S. J. 1991 Executive function deficits in high-functioning autistic individuals: relationship to theory of mind. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 32, 1081-1105.
75. Pierce, K., Muller, R. A., Ambrose, J., Allen, G. & Courchesne, E. 2001 Face processing occurs outside the fusiform 'face area' in autism: evidence from functional MRI. Brain 124, 2059-2073.
76. Plaisted, K. 2001 Reduced generalization in autism: an alternative to weak central coherence. In The development of autism: perspectives from theory and research (ed. J. A. Burack, T. Charman, N. Yirmiya & P. Zelazo), pp. 149-169. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
77. Prior, M. R. & Hoffmann, W. 1990 Brief report: neuropsychological testing of autistic children through an exploration with frontal lobe tests. J. Autism Devl Disorders 20, 581-590.
78. Prior, M., Eisenmajer, R., Leekam, S., Wing, L., Gould, J., Ong, B. & Dowe, D. 1998 Are there subgroups within the autistic spectrum? A cluster analysis of a group of children with autistic spectrum disorder. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 39, 893-902.
79. Rimland, B. & Fein, D. 1988 Special talents of autistic savants. In The exceptional brain (ed. L. K. Obler & D. Fein), pp. 474-492. New York: Guildford.
80. Ring, H. A., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Williams, S. C. R., Brammer, M., Andrew, C. & Bullmore, E. T. 1999 Cerebral correlates of preserved cognitive skills in autism: a functional MRI study of embedded figures task performance. Brain 122, 1305-1315.
81. Robbins, T. W. 1997 Integrating the neurobiological and neuropsychological dimensions of autism. In Autism as an executive disorder (ed. J. Russell), pp. 21-53. Oxford University Press.
82. Rumsey, J. M. & Hamburger, S. D. 1988 Neuropsychological findings in high-functioning men with infantile autism. J. Autism Devl Disorders 20, 155-168.
83. Russell, J. 1997 Autism as an executive disorder. Oxford University Press.
84. Russell, J. 2002 Cognitive theories of autism. In Cognitive deficits in brain disorders (ed. J. E. Harrison & A. M. Owen), pp. 295-323. London: Martin Dunitz.
85. Russell, J. & Hill, E. L. 2001 Action-monitoring and intention reporting in children with autism. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 42, 317-328.
86. Schultz, R. T., Gauthier, I., Klin, A., Fulbright, R. K., Anderson, A. W., Volkmar, F., Skudlarski, P., Lacadic, C., Cohen, D. J. & Gore, J. C. 2000 Abnormal ventral temporal cortical activity during face discrimination among individuals with autism and Asperger syndrome. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 57, 331-340.
87. Shah, A. & Frith, U. 1983 An islet of ability in autistic children: a research note. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 24, 613-620.
88. Shah, A. & Frith, U. 1993 Why do autistic individuals show superior performance on the block design task? J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 34, 1351-1364.
89. Shallice, T. 1988 From neuropsychology to mental structure. Cambridge University Press.
90. Szatmari, P., Bartolucci, G., Bremner, R., Bond, S. & Rich, S. 1989 A follow-up study of high-functioning autistic children. J. Autism Devl Disorders 19, 213-225.
91. Tager-Flusberg, H. 2001 A re-examination of the theory of mind hypothesis of autism. In The development of autism: perspectives from theory and research (ed. J. A. Burack, T. Charman, N. Yirmiya & P. Zelazo), pp. 173-193. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
92. Taylor, B., Miller, E., Farrington, C. P., Petropoulos, M.-C., Favot-Mayaud, I., Li, J. & Wraight, P. A. 1999 Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. Lancet 353, 2026-2029.
93. Vogeley, K., Bussfeld, P., Newen, A., Herrmann, S., Happé, F., Falkai, P., Maier, W., Shah, N. J., Fink, G. R. & Zilles, K. 2001 Mind reading: neural mechanisms of theory of mind and self-perspective. Neuroimage 14, 170-181.
94. Williams, J. H. G., Whiten, A., Suddendorf, T. & Perrett, D. I. 2001 Imitation, mirror neurons and autism. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 25, 287-295.
95. Witkin, H. A., Oltman, P. K., Raskin, E. & Karp, S. 1971 A manual for the embedded figures test. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
96. World Health Organization 1992 The ICD-10 classification for mental and behavioural disorders: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.
97. Zilbovicius, M., Boddaert, N., Belin, P., Poline, J. B., Remy, P., Mangin, J. F., Thivard, L., Barthelemy, C. & Samson, Y. 2000 Temporal lobe dysfunction in childhood autism: a PET study. Am. J. Psychiatry 157, 1988-1993.