Biological explanation - Amygdala dysfunction

Question 1

The amygdala dysfunction theory

Answer 1

-The amygdala is a part of the social brain because of its important role in influencing social behaviour
Baron - cohen (2000)
- said the amygdala has neural connections with the frontal cortex, abnormal development pf the amygdala in childhood is a casual factor involved in social and behavioural deficits
- therefore those with ASD have difficulties in understanding the expression of emotions in other people

Question 2

Baron Cohen et al (2000)

Answer 2

Procedure
- image presentation - participants are shown images of the eye region of faces, each with two possible mental state descriptors
- Control group — adults with ASD were matched with a control group of adults without ASD

Forced choice - participants must select the word from the pair that best describes the mental state of the person in the image

Scoring - the number of correct answers is recorded, with maximum score of 25

Findings
- ASD group
- individuals with ASD performed significantly worse on the Eyes Test compared to the other groups

Significance - these findings suggest that the Eyes Test is a useful tool for differentiating between individuals with and without difficulties in understanding and attributing mental states to others

Question 3

Evaluation - amygdala dysfunction could be implicated in lack of theory of mind

Answer 3

Theory of Mind
- the human ability to recognise and attribute mental states not only in themselves but in others, and to understand that their feelings and beliefs may be different to others

• Some psychological conditions prevent some people from being able to recognise mental states e.g autism spectrum disorders, Sz, ADHD

Question 4

Amygdala development in ASD

Answer 4

Nordahl et al (2012)
- found that from 2 yrs of age, there is larger growth in amygdala volume in children with ASD (6-9%)
- by late adolescence/early adulthood there is no difference in amygdala volume between those with ASD and those without
- the growth in volume occurs earlier in children with ASD and this may result in abnormalities in the neural organisation of the amygdala and damage its functioning

Question 5

Describe the biological explanation of ASD (10 marks)

Answer 5

• link to the biological assumption of localisation of brain function
• research evidence - amygdala develops differently in ASD
• amygdala shown to influence emotion and social behaviour
• the eyes test
• supports the idea that brain dysfunction is linked with ASD

Question 6

Further Evaluation of amygdala dysdunction

Answer 6

• only a small number of experiments experiments have been done with autistic people
  
  • this is because they are difficult to carry out and a main problem is that when inside the scanner and the person just remain extremely still which has a tendency to make people feel anxious
• amygdala is crucial in regulating fear and anxiety related behaviours
  
  • people with a dysfunctional amygdala cannot process fear and anxiety normally which influences social functioning
  • leads to social communication problems
• Ollendick et al - states that anxiety is a common feature of those with ASD and this suggests a more indirect link between amygdala dysfunction

Research into brain abnormalities varies and there is no direct evidence that explains what is exactly going on
- need more knowledge about the normal development of the brain

Question 7

Evaluate 1 biological explanation of ASD - sample question

Answer 7

Evidence ( for/against
Explanation
Debates - biological determination, reductionist explanation, nature, scientific

Question 8

Research evidence for the amygdala dysfunction

Answer 8

Howard et al - found an increased amygdala volume on adults with ASD

Paul et al
- studied 2 women who had suffered damaging lesions to their amygdala
- the women showed signs of impaired social behaviour but the degree of impairment was nowhere near as extensive as that found in those diagnosed with ASD