Perform functions
There is no doubt that children with autism have impaired executive function.
Executive function (EF) is defined as a set of cognitive processes that regulate, control, and manage oneself. That is to say, if a person wants to do something, he must regulate his attention, initiate and direct his behavior, regulate the intensity and progress of his behavior, control the corresponding emotions, and finally achieve the behavioral process of the goal. EF is the most commonly used term in psychometric testing for children, especially children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who are often referred to as "executive dysfunction." Because EF includes attention control, cognitive inhibition, inhibitory control, working memory, planning, self-monitoring, and cognitive flexibility, among others. Children with ADHD may have different degrees of "problems" in this series of links, so they show difficulty in paying attention, doing things in a hurry, poor short-term memory, difficulty in controlling behavior, impulsiveness and frizziness, and tantrums. In fact, many children with neurodevelopmental disorders have impaired executive function, including autism, mental retardation, mood disorders, bipolar disorder, etc.
Brain science believes that executive function is mainly handled by the frontal lobe of the brain, which is the highest command of human behavior, and many instructions and signals are sent by the frontal lobe of the brain. It is said that the specific sites of EF are mainly the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the posterior and anterior dorsal cingulate cortex (ACC). The typical characteristics of damage in this area are: lack of planning, difficulty concentrating, difficulty in achieving goals, poor self-control, impulsive anger, memory loss, decreased ability to evaluate dangerous situations, good and bad, decreased logical and reasoning thinking, lack of rationality, and so on. Impairment of frontal lobe function can also lead to social cognitive deficits, incorruptibility and shame, lack of integrity and morality, self-discipline, and antisocial tendencies.
The frontal lobe of the brain in childhood is not mature, so most of them are prone to excited, impulsive, risk-taking, rapping, active, tantrums, procrastination, impatience, accidental injury, etc., in fact, the EF of the frontal lobe is not established and healthy. With age, the frontal lobe gradually develops and perfects (humans have to continue until their 20s), the nerves complete myelination, and the executive function can be improved, and finally become reserved, mentally mature, self-controlled, do things with a beginning and an end, control emotions, and behave moderately. In general, the intellectual development of children tends to be balanced, and EF is basically gradually developed and matured, and learns self-control.
When people reach the age of 20-29, their executive function is at its peak, when young people have the best brain power and can participate in the most challenging mental tasks, such as shorthand, brain teasers, quick reactions, drag racing, mind games, brainstorming, etc. After the age of 30, the EF of the human brain will gradually decline, of which working memory and spatial perception are the most likely to decline, but cognitive flexibility can still be maintained very well, from middle age until the age of 70 It begins to decline, Alzheimer's disease is another matter.
EF tests commonly used in children include: Test of Attention Variables (TOVA), Tower of London Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Task, Executive Function Scale (BDEFS), Executive Function Behavior Rating Checklist (BRIEF), Continuous Operation Task Test (CPT), etc.
Does autism have EF damage
Of course. EF impairment in children with autism differs from that of ADHD. Their core symptoms, such as social communication impairment and stereotyped behaviors, directly impair EF, which is more severe, longer-lasting, and has worse outcomes when combined with mental retardation and inability to follow instructions. Their EF damage is manifested in the following three main aspects.
(1). Impaired fluency. Behavioral fluency generally refers to the brain's ability to react quickly and adapt, including the ability to use words. Compared with ordinary children, autism has a significant lack of behavioral responses and coping skills in daily life, and the possibility of forming complex reactions is extremely low, let alone the ability to use language fluently. Even Aus or autism with a language function are less likely to produce new words and ideas (Anderson, PJ.2008).
(2) Impaired planning capacity. Ordinary children begin to have foresight from the age of three, know the cause and effect of what is going to happen, and imitate the learning behavior plan, and can also learn to "eat a trench and grow wise", and try to make the same mistakes as little as possible. In technical language, they gradually understand behavior planning, self-monitoring, continuous evaluation of behavior results, modification and development of new action plans, etc., and the whole behavior planning is basically spontaneous and does not require too much intervention and guidance. Of course, parental guidance and schooling can improve children's planning behavior. However, it is basically difficult for autism to make a behavior plan on its own, and it is also rare to have the understanding of "eating a trench and growing wisdom", because it cannot predict the causal relationship of events, that is, it cannot learn new knowledge, nor can it "stop" its own wrong behavior, and repeatedly make mistakes.
(3) Impaired flexibility. The stubbornness and stereotyped behavior of children with autism reflect the lack of flexibility in mental activities. Therefore, their daily behavior is very stubborn, their way of doing things is rigid, they are resistant to change, and they seem to be very stubborn and "complacent", and they are getting more and more intense. Compared with ordinary children of the same age, children with autism appear to have poor flexibility, slow reaction speed, difficulty in switching, and low executive ability even in rehabilitation education (Miller, EK. 2001).
Teacher Jing said
EF is genetic, and the EF test results of twin children are fairly close. And EF is relatively stable throughout a person's life. For ease of understanding, EF can be defined as three aspects of cognitive renewal, inhibition, and transfer (Miyake, A. 2000).
There is a lot of controversy about the properties and mechanisms of executive function, and there are many theoretical models. There are also many contradictory conclusions about the claim that EF is impaired in autism. For example, response inhibition (the brain's awareness of intentional inhibition of behavior) in EF is sometimes more extreme in autism, with a tendency to be afraid of a rope after being bitten by a snake for ten years. Therefore, it is not very reliable to use response inhibition as an indicator of EF deficiency in autism. The performance of children with autism on the inhibitory response test varies widely, indicating that they generally have difficulty inhibiting habitual responses, rather than inhibiting core deficits. Therefore, children with autism are very prone to inhibition and avoidance of the fear they have felt, and they have deep memories and will never be forgotten for life.
In addition, children with autism perform better in non-mentalization tests, such as identifying structural diagrams, observing details, matching picture cards, and recognizing basic facial expressions. It is much worse in terms of false beliefs, event attribution, abstract concepts, recognizing complex expressions, and implementing stratagems. In the final analysis, low EF in autism is more manifested in the impairment of cognitive self-regulation.