MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging 2017 | Page 29

button; speech, in contrast, requires
rapid and carefully orchestrated
movements of the tongue, lips, jaw,
velum, larynx and pharynx.
disorder. Here, the researchers
found significant differences in the
supplementary motor area of the
motor cortex between the subjects
with autism and age‐matched
Building on past neuroimaging controls—an exciting result, Mody
findings from her group, which says, as it provides neurophysiologi-
revealed a preference for visual over cal evidence of an underlying deficit
verbal processing strategies in ASD, in motor control in this population.
her current work suggests investi-
gating written communication as The investigators have now proposed
an alternative to spoken language in to follow up the MEG study with
this population.
connectivity analysis, probing links
between motor and speech areas in
Mody, principal investigator of the brain under various linguistic
the Developmental Language and demands, to better understand the
Reading Research Laboratory at the contribution of the motor system to
Center has spent the past couple verbal deficits in minimally verbal
of years exploring the relationship adults with autism.
between the motor system and
language.
Mody believes that nurturing the
development of literacy skills and
The first step was to look for rela- written communication in people
tionships between motor skills and with autism may, in time, stimulate
speech-language deficits in autism improvements in their speech capa-
spectrum disorder. In a study bilities.
reported earlier this year in Journal
of Autism and Developmental “After all,” she says, “speech and
Disorders, she and colleagues from print are flip sides of the same coin;
the MGH Lurie Center for Autism reading co-opted spoken language
examined data from nearly 1800 areas in the brain. If we understand
children with autism who were the cognitive capacities and senso-
enrolled in the Autism Speaks— rimotor capacities of individuals
Autism
Treatment
Network with ASD, we can build an inter-
(AS-ATN) registry, which collects vention that allows them to use the
information from children from pathways that are more comfortable
across 17 academic health centers for them.”
in the US and Canada. In doing so,
they identified interesting patterns The exacerbating role of social com-
of association between motor skills munication deficits
and language and social behaviors—
between fine motor skills and both Motor deficits aren’t the only
receptive and expressive language, impairments contributing to the
for example.
difficulties with verbal interactions.
Oftentimes people with autism also
These findings motivated an have social communication deficits,
MEG study of activation in the which can make verbal exchanges
brain during a simple motor task especially challenging.
(pushing a button) in minimally
verbal adults with autism spectrum In fact, these social deficits can be
the result of motor impairment. In
the earliest months of life, motor
skills facilitate vocal imitation and
the mimicking of facial expressions
as infants engage their parents or
caregivers. In doing so they open
the door to social reciprocity and
interpersonal interaction—corner-
stones of what we think of as social
skills. Motor deficits can lead to
disruption of those early activities,
with cascading effects with respect
to the development of social com-
munication abilities.
And this isn’t the only obstacle
individuals on the spectrum can
face. In a study published this year,
the Martinos Center’s Nouchine
Hadjikhani and colleagues looked
at the tendency to avoid eye contact
in people with autism and found
that this is not simply due to a lack
of engagement, as many had previ-
ously thought (see page 26, above).
Instead, the researchers showed, eye
contact can cause overactivation
in a particular part of the brain, so
their avoiding eye contact is a way
to mitigate this uncomfortable over-
arousal.
All of which underscores the
possible benefits of AAC and print
communication for people with
autism, Mody says.
“Because individuals on the
spectrum have social communica-
tions deficits, verbal interactions
can be particularly challenging.
As such, print provides a means to
express themselves, while circum-
venting the social communication
problems. Literary-focused inter-
vention has the potential to open
up new opportunities for expression
and self-reliance as they seek to
navigate society given their social
and verbal limitations.”
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