6. Major Points and Purpose
1 - Major points
Autism is the result of impairment in the brain, which must be the priority
for research into its cause, by multiple etiological factors.
2 - Purpose
The greatest metabolic activity in the brain is in the inferior colliculi. This
must support some essential function such as vigilance for the rest of the
brain. The brainstem nuclei of high metabolic rate may provide
multiplexing of incoming sensory signals. Damage of the inferior colliculi
has been found responsible for loss of speech understanding in several
case reports, thus damage in infancy could be a serious impediment for
language development. Maturation of the language areas of the cortex is
dependent upon intact neurochemical function of the brainstem auditory
pathway.
References
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Autism