There are many things that are still unknown about the brain. Its complexities are often researched by psychologists, and a recent study has provided new information about autism.
University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) assistant professor Jeffrey Hustler has completed a six-year study of brain tissue, the school's website reports.
Over the course of his study on brains that were affected by autism, Hustler noticed physical signs of short-range over-connectivity in the cortex's outer layer.
Essentially, "it creates a lot of noise in the brain, so to speak. There was a higher density of synaptic connections, about 20 percent," he says.
Psychologists have hypothesized about this problem in the past, but Hustler is the first to find physical evidence.
According to Hustler, the portion of the brain in question does not usually finish developing until after birth. It often continues to be refined up through the age of four years. Hustler attributes the growth to interaction with the environment, something that autistic children tend to detach from.
Psychologists at UNR have developed a program that allows students to work one-on-one with autistic children for at least 30 hours per week. So far, it has netted quality results in helping those affected by the disease engage with the world around them, as 50 percent of participants are showing signs of recovery from the disorder.
