A Neurocomputational Model for Autism

Autism is a mental disorder characterized by deficits in socialization, communication, and imagination. Along with the deficits, autistic children may have savant skills (“islets of ability”) of unknown origin. The present article proposes a neurobiological model for the autism. A neural network capable of defining neural maps simulates the process of neurodevelopment. The computer simulations hint that brain regions responsible for the formation of higher level representations are impaired in autistic patients. The lack of this integrated representation of the world would result in the peculiar cognitive deficits of socialization, communication, and imagination and could also explain some “islets of abilities”. The neuronal model is based on plausible biological findings and on recently developed cognitive theories of autism. Close relations are established between the computational properties of the neural network model and the cognitive theory of autism denominated “weak central coherence”, bringing some insight to the understanding of the disorder.