![]() To see the images, the brain must switch back and forth between input from the right and left eyes.įor the participant, it looks as though the two images are fading in and out, as input from each eye takes its turn inhibiting the input coming in from the other eye. During the task, researchers show each participant two different images, one to each eye. In this study, the researchers explored a visual task known as binocular rivalry, which requires brain inhibition and has been shown to be more difficult for people with autism. Scientists have speculated that reduced brain inhibition might underlie this hypersensitivity by making it harder to tune out distracting sensations. For example, children with autism are often very sensitive to things that wouldn’t bother other children as much, such as someone talking elsewhere in the room, or a scratchy sweater. Many symptoms of autism arise from hypersensitivity to sensory input. Eva-Maria Ratai, an assistant professor of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, also contributed to the research. Rosenblith Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a member of the McGovern Institute. The paper’s senior author is Nancy Kanwisher, the Walter A. Robertson is the lead author of the study, which appears in the Dec. “It’s possible that increasing GABA would help to ameliorate some of the symptoms of autism, but more work needs to be done.” ![]() “This is the first connection in humans between a neurotransmitter in the brain and an autistic behavioral symptom,” says Caroline Robertson, a postdoc at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. However, until now, there has been no direct evidence for such a link in humans. GABA is one of the most important inhibitory neurotransmitters, and studies of animals with autism-like symptoms have found reduced GABA activity in the brain. ![]() The findings suggest that drugs that boost the action of this neurotransmitter, known as GABA, may improve some of the symptoms of autism, the researchers say.īrain activity is controlled by a constant interplay of inhibition and excitation, which is mediated by different neurotransmitters. MIT and Harvard University neuroscientists have found a link between a behavioral symptom of autism and reduced activity of a neurotransmitter whose job is to dampen neuron excitation. ![]()
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