fMRI Evidence for Generalised Arousal as a Substitute for Early Selection in Autism during Conditions of Shifting Visual Spatial Attention

In the comparison with autism, we again find a good match between EEG findings and fMRI in occipitotemporal cortex. In this figure we've collapsed the data across hemispheres by multiplying the left- hemisphere activation score by negative one. Whereas normal subjects show a strong, selective activation contralateral to the attended hemifield, in autism this selective activation is absent.

I want to mention again here that although there was a gender- associated trend within the normal sample, that trend cannot account for this difference since within the normals we found that males showed a greater degree of lateralised activation, and in our autism sample, which is weighted towards males, we see an absence of lateralised activation.

`fMRI Evidence for Generalised Arousal as a Substitute for Early Selection in Autism during Conditions of Shifting Visual Spatial Attention', Matthew Belmonte, 10 November 2001