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      Autism as a developmental disorder in intentional movement and affective engagement

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          Abstract

          We review evidence that autistic spectrum disorders have their origin in early prenatal failure of development in systems that program timing, serial coordination and prospective control of movements, and that regulate affective evaluations of experiences. There are effects in early infancy, before medical diagnosis, especially in motor sequencing, selective or exploratory attention, affective expression and intersubjective engagement with parents. These are followed by retardation of cognitive development and language learning in the second or third year, which lead to a diagnosis of ASD. The early signs relate to abnormalities that have been found in brain stem systems and cerebellum in the embryo or early fetal stage, before the cerebral neocortex is functional, and they have clear consequences in infancy when neocortical systems are intensively elaborated. We propose, with evidence of the disturbances of posture, locomotion and prospective motor control in children with autism, as well as of their facial expression of interest and affect, and attention to other persons' expressions, that examination of the psychobiology of motor affective disorders, rather than later developing cognitive or linguistic ones, may facilitate early diagnosis. Research in this area may also explain how intense interaction, imitation or “expressive art” therapies, which respond intimately with motor activities, are effective at later stages. Exceptional talents of some autistic people may be acquired compensations for basic problems with expectant self-regulations of movement, attention and emotion.

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          Episodic memory: from mind to brain.

          Episodic memory is a neurocognitive (brain/mind) system, uniquely different from other memory systems, that enables human beings to remember past experiences. The notion of episodic memory was first proposed some 30 years ago. At that time it was defined in terms of materials and tasks. It was subsequently refined and elaborated in terms of ideas such as self, subjective time, and autonoetic consciousness. This chapter provides a brief history of the concept of episodic memory, describes how it has changed (indeed greatly changed) since its inception, considers criticisms of it, and then discusses supporting evidence provided by (a) neuropsychological studies of patterns of memory impairment caused by brain damage, and (b) functional neuroimaging studies of patterns of brain activity of normal subjects engaged in various memory tasks. I also suggest that episodic memory is a true, even if as yet generally unappreciated, marvel of nature.
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            Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates.

            Infants between 12 and 21 days of age can imitate both facial and manual gestures; this behavior cannot be explained in terms of either conditioning or innate releasing mechanisms. Such imitation implies that human neonates can equate their own unseen behaviors with gestures they see others perform.
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              Emotions and emotional communication in infants.

              Important advances have recently been made in studying emotions in infants and the nature of emotional communication between infants and adults. Infant emotions and emotional communications are far more organized than previously thought. Infants display a variety of discrete affective expressions that are appropriate to the nature of events and their context. They also appreciate the emotional meaning of the affective displays of caretakers. The emotional expressions of the infant and the caretaker function to allow them to mutually regulate their interactions. Indeed, it appears that a major determinant of children's development is related to the operation of this communication system. Positive development may be associated with the experience of coordinated interactions characterized by frequent reparations of interactive errors and the transformation of negative affect into positive affect, whereas negative development appears to be associated with sustained periods of interactive failure and negative affect.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Front Integr Neurosci
                Front Integr Neurosci
                Front. Integr. Neurosci.
                Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1662-5145
                08 May 2013
                17 July 2013
                2013
                : 7
                : 49
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, UK
                [2] 2Early Years, School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde Glasgow, UK
                Author notes

                Edited by: Elizabeth B. Torres, Rutgers University, USA

                Reviewed by: Antonio Pereira, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil; Nandakumar Narayanan, Yale, USA

                *Correspondence: Colwyn Trevarthen, Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK e-mail: c.trevarthen@ 123456ed.ac.uk
                Article
                10.3389/fnint.2013.00049
                3713342
                23882192
                9a14a28c-34fc-4bdb-94a1-3c9218802d95
                Copyright © 2013 Trevarthen and Delafield-Butt.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.

                History
                : 28 March 2013
                : 14 June 2013
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 218, Pages: 16, Words: 16192
                Categories
                Neuroscience
                Hypothesis and Theory Article

                Neurosciences
                autism,motor development,emotional expression,communication,education,therapy
                Neurosciences
                autism, motor development, emotional expression, communication, education, therapy

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