creators_name: McDowell, Maxson J
creators_id: maxmcdowell@jungny.com
editors_name: Dhand, Ritu
type: other
datestamp: 2014-02-25 12:39:56
lastmod: 2014-02-25 12:39:56
metadata_visibility: show
title: Autism spectrum disorders: A relational cause
ispublished: unpub
subjects: behav-neuro-sci
subjects: bio-theory
subjects: dev-psy
full_text_status: public
keywords: newborn, eye contact, autism spectrum disorders, direct cause, mother-infant pair
abstract: Jones and Klin (1) showed that newborns who will later develop autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) pay normal attention to eyes, but that attention declines from 2-6 months. This shows, they say, how 'initial genotypic vulnerabilities' cause ASDs. Their results suggest, however, that ASDs are caused by insufficient practice of early eye-contact.
date: 2013-10
date_type: submitted
publication: Nature      Brief communication arising
publisher: Macmillan
refereed: FALSE
referencetext: 1. Jones, W. & Klin, A. Attention to eyes is present but in decline in 2–6-month-old infants later diagnosed with autism. Nature doi:10.1038/nature12715 (2013)

2. Novella, S. Evidence in medicine: correlation and causation. Science-Based Medicine. sciencebasedmedicine.org Posted Nov 18 (2009)

3. Abrahams, B. S. & Geschwind, D. H. Advances in autism genetics: on the threshold of a new neurobiology. Nature Rev. Genet. 9, 341-355 (2008)

4. McDowell, M. J. Autism's direct cause? Failure of infant-mother eye contact in a complex adaptive system. Biological Theory 5(4), 344-356 (2011). Also at: http://cogprints.org/9124/

5. State, M. W. & Sestan, N. Neuroscience: the emerging biology of autism spectrum disorders. Science 337, 1301–1303 (2012)

6. Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R.T.,  Volkmar, F.R. The enactive mind – from actions to cognition: lessons from autism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., Bio. Sci. 358, 345-360 (2003)

7. McDowell, M. J. Autism, early narcissistic injury and self-organization: a role for the image of the mother's eyes? J. Analyt. Psychol. 49(4), 495-520 (2004)

8. Waldman, M., Nicholson, N. A., & Williams, J. Autism prevalence and precipitation rates in California, Oregon, and Washington counties. Arch. Ped. Adol. Med. 162(11), 1026-34 (2008)
citation:   McDowell, Dr Maxson J  (2013) Autism spectrum disorders: A relational cause.     (Unpublished)  
document_url: http://cogprints.org/9132/1/carl.jung.335a.html