Ornitz E M, Atwell C W, Kaplan A R, Westlake J R
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1985 Oct;42(10):1018-25. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790330102012.
Responses to vestibular stimulation can, under well-controlled experimental conditions, provide a measure of brain-stem function. Autistic children had significantly longer time constants during the primary nystagmus response and significantly fewer beats during the secondary response than normal children when stimulated with constant angular acceleration in complete darkness. These findings could not be attributed to gross differences in arousal, to developmental retardation, to associated clinical conditions, or to either the influence of vision or habituation. Rather, they are suggestive of a neurophysiologic dysfunction, perhaps involving the brain stem, and may be an expression of the process that underlies those autistic behaviors that suggest faulty modulation of sensory input and motor output. Brain-stem centers modulate both general sensory input and motor excitation and may play a role in the elaboration of the more complex adaptive and motivated behaviors that are also disturbed in autism.
在严格控制的实验条件下，对前庭刺激的反应可作为脑干功能的一种测量指标。在完全黑暗中以恒定角加速度刺激时，自闭症儿童在原发性眼球震颤反应期间的时间常数明显更长，而在继发性反应期间的搏动次数明显少于正常儿童。这些发现不能归因于觉醒的显著差异、发育迟缓、相关临床病症，也不能归因于视觉或习惯化的影响。相反，它们提示存在神经生理功能障碍，可能涉及脑干，并且可能是那些表明感觉输入和运动输出调节有误的自闭症行为背后过程的一种表现。脑干中枢调节一般感觉输入和运动兴奋，可能在自闭症中同样受到干扰的更复杂适应性和动机性行为的形成中发挥作用。
