Johnson Mark H
Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Science, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2017 Jun;25:5-11. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.02.004. Epub 2017 Feb 9.
While research on focal perinatal lesions has provided evidence for recovery of function, much less is known about processes of brain adaptation resulting from mild but widespread disturbances to neural processing over the early years (such as alterations in synaptic efficiency). Rather than being viewed as a direct behavioral consequence of life-long neural dysfunction, I propose that autism is best viewed as the end result of engaging adaptive processes during a sensitive period. From this perspective, autism is not appropriately described as a disorder of neurodevelopment, but rather as an adaptive common variant pathway of human functional brain development.
虽然对局灶性围产期病变的研究为功能恢复提供了证据，但对于早年因神经处理受到轻度但广泛干扰（如突触效率改变）而导致的大脑适应过程，我们了解得要少得多。我认为，与其将自闭症视为终身神经功能障碍的直接行为后果，不如将其最好地视为在敏感期参与适应过程的最终结果。从这个角度来看，自闭症不应被恰当地描述为一种神经发育障碍，而应被视为人类功能性大脑发育的一种适应性常见变异途径。
