Is autism due to brain desynchronization?
Abstract
The hypothesis is presented that a disruption in brain synchronization contributes to autism by destroying the coherence of brain rhythms and slowing overall cognitive processing speed. Particular focus is on the inferior olive, a precerebellar structure that is reliably disrupted in autism and which normally generates a coherent 5–13 Hz rhythmic output. New electrophysiological data reveal that the continuity of the rhythmical oscillation in membrane potential generated by inferior olive neurons requires the formation of neuronal assemblies by the connexin36 protein that mediates electrical synapses and promotes neuronal synchrony. An experiment with classical eyeblink conditioning is presented to demonstrate that the inferior olive is necessary to learn about sequences of stimuli presented at intervals in the range of 250–500 ms, but not at 700 ms, revealing that a disruption of the inferior olive slows stimulus processing speed on the time scale that is lost in autistic children. A model is presented in which the voltage oscillation generated by populations of electrically synchronized inferior olivary neurons permits the utilization of sequences of stimuli given at, or faster than, 2 per second. It is expected that the disturbance in inferior olive structure in autism disrupts the ability of inferior olive neurons to become electrically synchronized and to generate coherent rhythmic output, thereby impairing the ability to use rapid sequences of cues for the development of normal language skill. Future directions to test the hypothesis are presented.
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Deficits in eye blink conditioning in autistic disorder and after cerebellar lesions provide evidence for an altered olivocerebellar clock-signal for sensory timing below the level of perceptual awareness.
“Deficits in eye blink conditioning in AD [49] and after cerebellar lesions [50] provide evidence for an altered olivocerebellar “clock-signal” for sensory timing that occurs below the level of perceptual awareness [51] as illustrated in Figure 1.”
From Consensus Paper: Pathological Role of the Cerebellum in Autism (2012) · cites this paper as [51]
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- Authors
- Welsh, J. P., Ahn, E. S., & Placantonakis, D. G.
- Affiliations
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Weill Cornell Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Welsh, John P.
- Venue
- International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2004-11-05
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 2-3
- Pages
- 253-263
- ISSN
- 0736-5748 (ISSN-L)
- 1873-474X
- OpenAlex
- W2063699514
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 0.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation
- National Center for Research Resources (RR016858)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, inferior olive, brain synchronization, electrical synapses, connexin 36, neural oscillations, processing speed, eyeblink conditioning, cerebellum, language development
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Conditioning, Classical, Cortical Synchronization, Dyslexia, Humans, Infant, Neurophysiology, Sudden Infant Death, Neural Networks, Computer
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