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Event-Related Potential Studies of Cognitive Processing Abnormalities in Autism

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Imaging the Brain in Autism

Abstract

Autism is recognized as a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) usually evident during the first 3 years of life (Ruble and Brown 2003; Volkmar and Pauls 2003). Several neuropsychological models have been proposed to explain the cognitive deficits found in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (Baron-Cohen 2004), one of which is based on salient deficits in executive function (Burack 1994; Hughes et al. 1994; Ozonoff 1997; Hill 2004). Executive functioning skills fall under the purview of those prefrontal functions that facilitate problem-solving, flexible set-shifting, and forward planning in the implementation of goal-directed behavior (Hughes et al. 1994). The executive deficits in this autism model have been related to specific frontal mechanisms, principally to the prefrontal and midfrontal cortices and associated neural circuitries (Bishop 1993; Hill 2004). The domain of executive functions has significant implications for developmental psychopathologies, but there are still doubts (Griffith et al. 1999) regarding the causal explanation of signs and symptoms in autism as stemming exclusively from frontal executive functioning abnormalities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Louisville, 500 S. Preston St. Bldg 55B, Ste 130, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Estate M. Sokhadze

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Joshua Baruth

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Louisville, 401 E Chestnut St, Ste 610, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Allan Tasman

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Louisville, 500 S. Preston St. Bldg 55A, Ste 217, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Manuel F. Casanova M.D.

Authors
  1. Estate M. Sokhadze
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  2. Joshua Baruth
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  3. Allan Tasman
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  4. Manuel F. Casanova M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Estate M. Sokhadze .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Psychiatry, University of Louisville, S. Preston Street 500, Louisville, 40292, Kentucky, USA

    Manuel F. Casanova

  2. , Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, 40208, USA

    Ayman S. El-Baz

  3. Global Biomedical Technologies, Otter Glen Ct. 208, Roseville, 95661, California, USA

    Jasjit S. Suri

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Sokhadze, E.M., Baruth, J., Tasman, A., Casanova, M.F. (2013). Event-Related Potential Studies of Cognitive Processing Abnormalities in Autism. In: Casanova, M., El-Baz, A., Suri, J. (eds) Imaging the Brain in Autism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6843-1_4

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