Understanding Autism

An educational resource from the Yale Child Study Center

Autism banner

Neuroimaging

Neuroimaging

Neuroimaging, Dr. Kevin Pelphrey

Guest name: 
Kevin Pelphrey
Mon, 03/15/2010

In this lecture, Dr. Kevin Pelphrey discusses recent research, using functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the brain mechanisms involved in the typical and atypical development of social perception (the ability to understand the intentions and psychological dispositions of other people on the basis of biological motion cues) in typically developing children and children with autism.

Video: 
http://www.youtube.com/v/BzS85l1UGWc

Imaging Sheds Light on Autism- Dolan DNA Learning Center

This article describes how functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is being used to investigate autistic children's difficulty in processing social inputs. Several studies conducted at UCLA using fMRI are discussed.

Autism Research Projects — Dager Neuroimaging Research Laboratory — University of Washington

The Dager Neuroimaging Research Laboratory at the University of Washington describes current research projects in the area of autism.

Stanford Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory: Autism

The Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research at Stanford University describes current research projects in the area of autism.

Structural and Functional Neuroimaging of the Amygdala in Children with Autism- University of California Television

Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., of the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute presents an overview of neuroimaging research involving the amygdala as it relates to the neuropathology of autism.

Neuroimaging Reading List

Intro: 

Below are selected readings from the Neuroimaging class meetingas well as a short annotation from Dr. Pelphrey on the reading material and a link to find the reading online or to purchase the book online.

Vander Wyk, B. C., Hudac, C. M., Carter, E. J., Sobel, D. M., Pelphrey, K. A. (2009). Action understanding in the superior temporal sulcus region. Psychological Science, 20, 771-777.

Kevin Pelphrey

Title: 

Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center

Dr. Kevin Pelphrey is the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. He completed his doctoral studies in Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He then undertook postdoctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University.

Photo: 

Neuroimaging

In this lecture, Dr. Kevin Pelphrey discusses recent research, using functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the brain mechanisms involved in the typical and atypical development of social perception (the ability to understand the intentions and psychological dispositions of other people on the basis of biological motion cues) in typically developing children and children with autism.

Reading List: 

The featured reading for the Neuroimaging lecture comes from:

Pelphrey, K. A., Morris, J. P., & McCarthy, G. (2005). Neural basis of eye-gaze processing deficits in autism. Brain, 128, 1038-1048.

Here, using event-related functional MRI (fMRI), we show that in autism, brain regions involved in gaze processing, including the superior temporal sulcus (STS) region, are not sensitive to intentions conveyed by observed gaze shifts. We conclude that lack of modulation of the STS region by gaze shifts that convey different intentions contributes to the eye gaze processing deficits associated with autism.

Read the full text article at Brain: A Journal of Neurology at Oxford Journals.