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Cited by 1,130Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchFace Recognition and PerceptionAction Observation and Synchronization

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 117 of the 117 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The amygdala theory of autism

Baron-Cohen, S., Ring, H.A., Bullmore, E.T., Wheelwright, S., Ashwin, C., Williams, S.C.R.·2000·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
DOI 10.1016/s0149-7634(00)00011-7
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Abstract

Brothers (Brothers L. Concepts in Neuroscience 1990;1:27-51) proposed a network of neural regions that comprise the "social brain", which includes the amygdala. Since the childhood psychiatric condition of autism involves deficits in "social intelligence", it is plausible that autism may be caused by an amygdala abnormality. In this paper we review the evidence for a social function of the amygdala. This includes reference to the Kluver-Bucy syndrome (which Hetzler and Griffin suggested may serve as an animal model of autism). We then review evidence for an amygdala deficit in people with autism, who are well known to have deficits in social behaviour. This includes a detailed summary of our recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study involving judging from the expressions of another person's eyes what that other person might be thinking or feeling. In this study, patients with autism or AS did not activate the amygdala when making mentalistic inferences from the eyes, whilst people without autism did show amygdala activity. The amygdala is therefore proposed to be one of several neural regions that are abnormal in autism. We conclude that the amygdala theory of autism contains promise and suggest some new lines of research.

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Crossref · 10.1016/s0149-7634(00)00011-7

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Brothers, 1990, The social brain: a project for integrating primate behaviour and neurophysiology in a new domain, Concepts in Neuroscience, 1, 27
  2. Emery, 1998, The role of the amygdala in dyadic social interaction and the stress response in monkeys, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 312, 4
  3. Kling, 1971, Amygdalectomy and social behaviour in the caged stump-tailed macaque, Folio Primatologia, 14, 91
  4. Bachevalier, 1991, An animal model for childhood autism: memory loss and socioemotional disturbances following neonatal damage to the limbic system in monkeys, vol. 1
  5. Bauman, 1988, Limbic and cerebellar abnormalities: consistent findings in infantile autism, Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 47, 369
  6. Bauman, 1986, Developmental cerebellar abnormalities: a consistent finding in early infantile autism, Neurology, 36, 190
  7. Payton, 1987, Early appearance of partial complex seizures in children with infantile autism, Annals of Neurology, 22, 408
  8. 1994, vol. 2054

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Metadata

Authors
Baron-Cohen, S., Ring, H. A., Bullmore, E. T., Wheelwright, S., Ashwin, C., & Williams, S. C. R.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • University of London (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2000-05
Volume
24
Issue
3
Pages
355-364
ISSN
0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0149-7634(00)00011-7
OpenAlex
W2070083499
Cited by
1,130
References
117
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 54 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 65 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 57 · 2014: 58 · 2013: 50 · 2012: 69
FWCI
12.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, amygdala, social brain, social cognition, Klüver-Bucy syndrome, animal models of autism, amygdala dysfunction, mentalization, gaze, functional MRI
MeSH terms
Amygdala, Animals, Autistic Disorder, Humans, Social Behavior

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