As and the interbrain

Asperger syndrome and the interbrain

Digby TantamClinical Professor of Psychotherapy, University of Sheffield

Quantum entanglementBoyer V, Marino AM, Pooser RC, Lett PD. Entangled Images from Four-Wave Mixing. Science. 2008 July 25, 2008;321(5888):544-7.

Separated sediment layers of marine bacteria communicate electronicallyNealson KH. Geomicrobiology: Sediment reactions defy dogma. Nature. [10.1038/4631033a]. 2010;463(7284):1033-4.

Seagulls fall asleep and wake together in the Bay of Fundy

Beauchamp et al. Sleeping gulls monitor the vigilance behaviour of their neighbours. Biology Letters, 2009; 5 (1): 9 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0490

http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0490

Invisible connections

An idea whose time has come?

Slime mould Physarum polycephalum metamorphosing from unicellular amoeba to multi-celled sporangiophore in response to starvation

Hunyuan hanging temple, Mt. Hengshan, Shanxi

Which is the organism?

Ian Couzin (icouzin.princeton.edu)① Short-range repulsive

behaviour ② Intermediate range desire to

align with neighbours ③ and a long-range attraction to

the group as a whole

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NT ASD

http://icouzin.princeton.edu/

• Neurons are linked by electrical impulses and chemicals into a network

• Our brains can be linked to other brains the way that one computer can be linked to another via the internet

• These links are the nonverbal communications that pass between us, principally consisting of imitation and of gaze following

• Imitation and gaze following are automatically initiated by local brain networks apparently specialized for this

Schurmann M, Hesse MD, Stephan KE, Saarela M, Zilles K, Hari R, et al. Yearning to yawn: the neural basis of contagious yawning. Neuroimage. [doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.10.022]. 2005;24(4):1260-4.

The interbrain

Extended cognitionAutomatic processingReflexive vs. reflective

processing ‘The borg’

Brookdale care conference, London

Jerry Ryan, 7 of 9 StarTrek

Neurotypical

Aspie

On sale here

Themes in adulthood Ryan, S, Räisänen, U "It's like you are just a spectator in this thing": Experiencing social life the [`]aspie' way. Emotion, Space and Society 2008; 1: 135-43.

• feeling different• trying to fit in• safe spaces • uncommon sense

FEELING DIFFERENTBeing disconnected from the interbrain

Contributors

Parents, teachers, and people with Asperger syndromeSheffield Asperger Parents Action Group

Sheffield surveyMyles BalfeTing ChenMike Campbell Sheffield Bullying project

Paul NaylorJenny WainscotJenna Williams15 medical students

Aston Bullying ProjectPaul NaylorJeremy DawsonEric EmersonLaura Vazquez

Green et al compared 20 adolescent men with AS with 20 with conduct problems

• AS group• Severely impaired practical social functioning • Anxiety• Obsessional disorders

• Both groups had• Depression• Suicidal ideation• Tempers and defiance

Outstanding areas for concern: Sheffield survey• Reduction of available support in

adulthood• Lack of paid work (36%, 6% of whom

supported)• Lack of independence• 60% living with parents• 21% living independently• 56% thought they could be more

independent with support


Emotional problems in adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome(findings from Sheffield survey)

• Self-harm: thoughts 50%, actual 11%• Violence: threats 83%, actual 34%• Bullied 90%, 30% currently (includes

adults)• Majority have anxiety-related disorder

08/04/2023Modum Bad 27

‘There is a view of life which conceives that where the crowd is, there is also the truth, and that in truth itself there is need of having the crowd on its side. There is another view of life which conceives that wherever there is a crowd there is untruth, so that (to consider for a moment the extreme case), even if every individual, each for himself in private, were to be in possession of the truth, yet in case they were all to get together in a crowd - a crowd to which any decisive significance is attributed, a voting, noisy, audible crowd - untruth would at once be in evidence’ (Kierkegaard, 1846; Dedication).

The viewpoint of mind

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“l’homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers. J.-J. Rousseau

Is it better not to be so connected to the interbrain?

• Fewer informational viruses

• Understand machines in their own right not as defective people

• Fairness is not prejudiced by sympathy

• Not in chains

TRYING TO FIT IN

Many other educational obstacles, plus emotional difficulties


Associated developmental disordersPredominantly fronto-striatal or fronto-cerebellar

• Dysexecutive syndrome (planning)

• Dyslexia (writing and spelling)

• Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (impulsivity, executive functions, task persistence)

• Also links with• Tourette syndrome• Expressive speech and language

disorder (may lead to elective mutism)

• Dysgraphia• Dyscalculia• Topographical disorientationBrookdale care

conference, London

Atypical Asperger syndrome

Atypical Asperger syndrome

• Primary abnormality is lack of empathy, partly due to failure of non-verbal interpretation (‘face blindness’)

• Ability to make relationships but not to keep them

• Lack of empathy may lead to antisocial behaviour, but greater problem is lack of persuasiveness and ‘social influencing power’

Picture on left from Pelphrey et al, 2002 and on right from the film, “Ripley’s game” starring Matt Damon as Ripley

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Knowing about the world using non-verbal cues

Who is being shot?

Terrorists or partisans?

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Why is that woman so fat?

Coping with a lack of identity• Fads• ‘Obsessive’ relationships• Lack of identity in many

people with ASD• Adopting identity

wholesale• Joining charismatic groups• Moving places and work

• Searching for identity• ‘Transexualism’• ‘Aspie’

• Identities off the peg• Gangster• Professor• Teddy bear

21 Mar 08 Advances in research and management of AS

Atypical AS• ‘Look normal’, because normal NVE. Do not seem like

‘Aspies’• Form friendships but they do not last• May have many hidden learning difficulties e.g. lack of

speech understanding, reduced working memory• Vulnerable adults• Lack of empathy leads to a lack of persuasiveness

• This may lead to unassertiveness or exploitation• Coercive interpersonal strategies, possibly more likely

if associated ADHD• Drug misuse, violence, other forensic issues• Impulsivity may alternate with compulsivity• May seek an identity as adults, and like special interests

in other people with AS, may embrace or drop one ruthlessly.

• Modelling on others may be even more marked

Telling the truth vs. knowing the truth

• Narrative•

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Implications for witness statements

• People with AS do see the trees for the wood

• And may reliably apply a correspondence theory of truth

• But they may not have a narrative theory

Bruck, M., K. London, et al. (2007). "Autobiographical memory and suggestibility in children with autism spectrum disorder." Dev.Psychopathol. 19(1): 73-95; AS McCrory, E., L. A. Henry, et al. (2007). "Eye-witness memory and suggestibility in children with Asperger syndrome. [Article]." Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry 48(5): 482-489..

• As witnesses they may correctly memorize and reports facts

• may not report the story of what happened, including the intentions of or provocations to the the actors

• This may limit the value of their evidence

• It may also go against them when they witness to their own defence

• When people with AS report intentions, one should consider external influence

• Questions should focus on facts and not interpretation


Group Independence (or its lack among medical students)


Other contributors to inconsequentiality

• Lack of emotional empathy

• Neurotypicals are united, and do not deserve empathy

• Uproar

Can any of these factors increase lying?

• Lack of a shared social contract

• Lack of social influencing power

SAFE SPACES

Bullying and exclusion at and from school begin a process of narrowing the number of safe spaces

Consequences of bullying

• Passive failure to be included• Reduced use of

community resources (social exclusion)

• Experience of being unwanted/marginalized

• Active rejection , blaming, scapegoating• Stigma as a means

of keeping threatening Other at a distance

• Bullying

Painted Bird by Edward Gafford, inspired by the novel ‘Painted Bird’ by Jerzy Kosiński, itself based on what has been claimed is a fictive war-time experience of the author in Poland

Who bullies and why? Evidence is limited, but

• On behalf of a social group• Bullies are highly regarded, but not popular• Bullies’ in-group status may be tenuous• Victims are different• Victims may be more aggressive than non-victims, and

are perceived, perhaps as more threatening


The limitless potential of social control by shaming

• A particularly wide ranging tool kit

• Readiness to consider the most intense emotional issues and in the next moment, the most practical and cognitive ones

• Having a clear grasp of the individual in front of you, not just in life experience, or temperament, but in cognitive abilities

• Be aware of shame and shaming


Does social exclusion lead to functional movement impairment

Is there a difference in the amount of physical activity of pupils with AS compared to others?• Mean number of steps per hour: AS group

= 902, control group = 1312 (t = -2.645, p = .027)


Where were people with AS in Sheffield?

• Most living at home, even above 30.• Most had difficulties coping with changes

in everyday environments• Difficulties moving between places (for

example using public transport)• Most common places frequented were

libraries and cinemas


UNCOMMON SENSEIs the person with AS king of the cyber world?

• Leaders pay attention to the environment

• Followers (‘social individuals’) pay attention to the group, and so join the group following a leader

• There are proportionately fewer leaders in larger migratory groups

[email protected]

Is Asperger syndrome the future?

Bram Cohen, founder BitTorrent, and self diagnosed Aspie

Owen Thor Walker apointed to TelstraClear, who previously wrote code enabling a hacker group to steal £13.9M from bank accounts

THE END—thanks for listeningDon’t forget slides can be found at

www.dilemmaconsultancy.org

As and the interbrain

Health & Medicine

Transcript of As and the interbrain