Did you know that autism affects brain development? It’s true! In this blog post, we will discuss the neuroscience of autism and how it affects brain development and learning. We will also explore some of the latest research on this topic. If you are a parent of a child with autism or if you work with people who have autism, then this information is for you!
Neuroscience 101: Neurons and Synapses
The brain is made up of billions of neurons. Neurons serve as communicators and have special features that allow them to send messages with rapid speed and efficiency.
It is how our body and brain communicate with each other.
The connections between the neurons are synapses. Synapses are information portals that send the information back and forth from one neuron to another.
While still in the womb, billions and billions of neurons are developing in the brain and at birth, infants already have most of the neurons they will need throughout their lives.
Although babies are born with all the neurons, they are not born with all the connections in place. They need to both build and strengthen those connections.
Let’s take learning how to walk for example,
- A child is born with the connections they need to flex and extend their leg muscles, but they don’t yet know to put one foot in front of the other.
- Step by step, however, the connections between the child’s brain and their leg muscles grow stronger and as they learn the pattern of placing one foot in front of another. They are forming new connections and strengthening these connections with each step.
- These connections strengthen through practice and are what allows a child to walk with confidence!
We have all seen this struggle or process (depending on if it is YOUR child or not) as a baby learns to walk on their own. The more experience they have, the stronger the connections in their brain – this then requires less mental energy to focus on the activity.
Neuroscience 102: Brain Connectivity and Pruning
Congrats, you passed Neuroscience 101. Time now for Neuroscience 102 – so let’s talk about how Brain Connectivity and Pruning works.
In the critical growth stage in early development and early childhood, every time we learn something new, we strengthen, shape, or form new connections between the neurons in our brain. We know that the brain reaches the maximum number of its synaptic connections sometime in early childhood, between 2-4 years of age.
Neurologically, an abundant number of neurons and synapses develop, while also allowing different brain regions to communicate with each other. As this is happening in early childhood development, the synapses that are forming are strengthened, while unused connections become smaller or are removed. This is known as synaptic pruning.
Pruning is a natural brain maturation process as the brain begins to eliminate excess neurons that are not being used or strengthened – basically, your brain says, “use it or lose it.” Pruning helps to refine the neural circuits and increase efficiency in the brain.
So how does Autism affect Brain Development and Learning?
In autism, evidence suggests that this process of developing neural networks isn’t working as efficiently and often results in poor connections, particularly in those brain areas that are further away from each other.
What does this mean? Genetic studies have suggested that the genes that play an important role in the building and strengthening as well as pruning for maximum brain efficiency are not doing their job efficiently. Also, other evidence suggests that the neural connections between the different brain regions have a much harder time connecting; especially with the brain regions that are further away from each other.
This is a big challenge because even simple behaviors require the use of multiple brain regions simultaneously. An example of this would be a hallmark skill needed for social and communication that is typically performed with ease by most 9-12 month old infants: joint attention.
Joint attention is when a child shifts their gaze between something interesting and an adult for sharing. Joint attention involves many different brain regions working together at the same time. For infants and children with autism, joint attention is a core deficit skill that, without further development, has a negative effect on attention, communication, socialization and learning.
So what can be done?
Put simply, genes set the stage and the early experiences shape the circuits in our brains.
We know that synapse formation is dependent on early experiences and the brain connections grow stronger with experiences. Furthermore, we know that the quality of the experiences matter too.
Research has shown that we can begin seeing behavioral and neurological differences in infants with autism as early as 9 months. Through early identification and quality therapy and parent training, the inefficient neural networks of the brain can be altered by creating and strengthening efficient neural connections. We need to identify early autism as soon as possible so we can create socially enriched experiences to help shape the brain when it is most plastic.
This allows complex behavior such as joint attention, a skill that can help change the trajectory of brain and behavioral development and have a positive and lasting effect on the social and communicative pathways of the brain.
KGH Autism specializes in identifying autism in infants and young children. Click here to learn more about signs of early autism.
