Autism Research

» ChosenLast - I always knew I was not like other people...

In response to I always knew I was not like other people... posted by prism97:
Prism wrote, "I just 'turn off'(neutral expression, unfocussed blank eyes). This is a bit like being deeply asleep with open eyes. Why does this happen? "

Neuro-typical brains pre-process sensory input, attach emotional significance, and filter out much of what you experience. The filtering rules evolved with the species and are hard wired into primitive parts of the Neuro-typical brain.

Autistics get raw sensory input. What you describe is autistic shutdown. This happens when an over abundance of stress hormones cause an autistic's brain to overload. The main culprit is cortisol, which puts your body into fight or flight mode.

Normally the stress hormones are countered by the release of hormones like oxytocin but, due to inadequate neural connections in parts of the autistic brain, the stand-down message does not get delivered. Autistics have to chill out by sleeping, spending "alone time", or taking tranquilizers.

The only upside of having an autistic brain is that you consciously learn to set the rules on how you perceive the world.

-- posted by ChosenLast