Broken Mirrors: A theory of Autism

Autism is a disorder that affects around .5% of American children. Ever since autism was first diagnosed scientists and doctors have been puzzled by what causes it. The main signs of autism include social isolation, inability to make eye contact, poor language capabilities, and absence of empathy. Some less known symptoms are inability to understand metaphors, mimic the actions of others, and ignore certain aspects of their surroundings while cluing in other things in their environment. Many theories have been presented that try to explain all the symptoms, however many of them only explain a few of the symptoms.

One theory that explains autism and it’s symptoms is the “theory of other minds.” This theory involves the mirror neurons that were discovered only a few years ago. Mirror neurons are involved in social interaction and what allow us to be able to imitate what someone else does. Such as a baby sticking out it’s tongue when the mother sticks her tongue out at the baby. Giacomo Rizzolatti and other researchers at the University of Parma have done experiments to study how these mirror neurons react in the brain. In their experiments they took monkeys and gave them goal orientated tasks. While performing these tasks certain parts of their brains “lit up.” When they saw other monkeys or researchers perform the same tasks the same part of their brain would “light up.” This is caused by the mirror neurons. Researchers then took this experiment and applied it to children with autism. When they perform a task they are able to do it and their brain “lit up.” But when they were shown a task they were unable to imitate it and their brain did not “light up,” Children who did not suffer from autism were able to complete the task and able imitate the action shown to them. This experiment helped researchers understand why children with autism are unable to interact socially. This is because they are unable to imitate the social standards.

However this theory does not explain why autistic children have difficulty understanding metaphors. One explanation is the bouba/kiki effect. This was first created by Wolfgang Kohler over sixty years ago. The experiment was to show two pictures: one jagged and one curvy. When asked which one is the bouba and which is the kiki 98 percent would chose bouba as curvy and kiki as the jagged. This is because a normal human brain matches sounds with sight. When the test is given to autistic children they fail it. This explains why they don’t understand metaphors because metaphors require the same abstract thinking that the bouba/kiki test requires.

Through the research of Giacomo Rizzolatti and many others like him autism is being explained more and more everyday. Hopefully one day they will be able to find a cure.

I thought that is article was very interesting and very relevant to what we just studied in class. I did not know much about autism when I picked the article. Now I understand how sad of a disease it is. I hope that researchers will be able to find a cure for it or at least to able to help families cope with it.