Structural and Functional Brain Abnormalities

Question: Discuss about the Structural and Functional Brain Abnormalities. Answer: Introduction: The autism spectrum disorder mostly affects the neurons in the brain and causes developmental syndromes which last for the rest of the individuals life. The cellular as well as structural abnormalities that ensure occur in three domains: language, social aspects and the way in which the victims carry out their activities. Some of the affected portions of the brain are the hippocampus, cerebellum, entorhinal cortex and posterior cingulated cortex. An example is the cerebellum which is thought to be the error correction site in order to control movement, balance and the coordination of all activities of the body (Lainhart, 2015). Since the cerebellum has been linked to most functions that are lost in autism spectrum disorder, there is every need to look at the effects of this disorder in the cerebellum. For instance, postmortem studies indicate that there are abnormalities in terms of cellular and physiological roles. Most of the pathological alterations in the brain are known to sprea d from the cerebellum to other brain parts. Examination of abnormalities like trauma, stroke and other brain injuries suggest that lesions found in the cerebellum cause effects throughout the connections in the brain and hence the loss of these functions. Neuroanatomical changes In the initial stages and age, the growth of the brain is normal, but as the age advances, there is an overgrowth of the brain. This overgrowth does not affect the whole brain but rather it has specific regions that its effects are felt and observed (DeRamus et al., 2015). For instance, there is a high preference for overgrowth of the frontal and temporal lobes and amygdale in autism spectrum disorder patients. Moreover, the spectrum disorder causes the thinning of the cortex as well as reduced volume of the frontal lobe. In other case, the gray matter is described to enlarge when this problem reaches advanced stages. The impairment of the basal ganglions in autism spectrum disorder is associated with impairment in the impairment in the motor functions as well as the stereotype behavior observed in these patients. Since most of the neuroanatomical changes occur during the puberty and adolescent stages of autism spectrum disorder, this causes the alteration in the maturation of the br ain. Psychological deficits The autism spectrum disorder is associated with lack of sleep which in turn affects their behaviors. For instance, children with autism who are not able to sleep, socialize and communicate well have their day time behavior negatively affected (Cohen et al., 2014). There are difficulties in following the given instruction especially in an ongoing conversation. Moreover, these patients cannot be able to understand things that have not been explained, that is, they cannot make inferences. In terms of communication, the verbal and non-verbal communication may result into severe impairments in terms of functions. In other cases, the victims are unable to initiate any form of social interactions and they cannot respond to social communication from other people. When there is the lack of flexibility in terms of behaviors, the functioning inn several aspects are interfered with (Carlisi et al., 2016). Moreover, when the autism spectrum disorder patients fail to have proper planning and organ ization of their activities, independence is finally hampered. References Carlisi, C. O., Norman, L. J., Lukito, S. S., Radua, J., Mataix-Cols, D., Rubia, K. (2016). Comparative Multimodal Meta-analysis of Structural and Functional Brain Abnormalities in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Biological Psychiatry. Cohen, S., Conduit, R., Lockley, S. W., Rajaratnam, S. M., Cornish, K. M. (2014). The relationship between sleep and behavior in autism spectrum disorder (ASD): a review. Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders, 6(1), 44. DeRamus, T. P., Kana, R. K. (2015). Anatomical likelihood estimation meta-analysis of grey and white matter anomalies in autism spectrum disorders. NeuroImage: Clinical, 7, 525-536. Lainhart, J. E. (2015). Brain imaging research in autism spectrum disorders: in search of neuropathology and health across the lifespan. Current opinion in psychiatry, 28(2), 76.