A New Marker for Autism early Dianosis: The Fixation Point’s Divergence of the two Nasal Hemiretina
I am going to prove the aim of this talk by means of the BIOLOGICAL THEORY OF THE MIND. It maintains that motor process, cognitive process and DNA’s makeup are a sole process. The muscle-skeletal apparatus is the 3dimensional reference system on which the energy of the two spaces aligns in the unit of time.
In turn, it was elaborated by me as a consequence of a new re-educative method mainly based on motor experiences. It has been successfully experimented on children with learning difficulties in the Italian Education System.
As a teacher of physical education, I observed in my pupils the correlation betweeen motor and cognitive deficits. The children recovered the cognitive deficit after recovering the motor deficit. So, my attention focused on the motor process (muscular energy of the internal space).
The experimentation give proof that the deficit depends on the lack of synchronism of information of 1)- the two spaces, 2)- the two aspects of energy on the 3D reference system body.
The afferent phase (the missing piece)
Until the time of my research, I realized the motor process/cognitve process had been investigated in the efferent phase, or top-down, in order to perform the established action as an answer to the “command neurons”.
To give an answer to the effectiveness of my method, I had to investigate the AFFERENT PHASE, or bottom-up, that conveys information from the periphery to the cortex: the missing piece or the black box of the cognitive psychology.
Also, I had to divide the motor process (cognitive process) in three phases: 1)-the afferent one, 2)-the passage from objective to subjective (memory-the consciousness’s biological basis), 3)-efferent phase or answer.
PLASE NOTE: The efferent phase is consequent to the afferent one; the latter is in charge of the cerebral structure which, in turn, depends on motor experiences and DNA make-up, as we will see later.
The breakthrough
The Breakthrough
This original point of view, can be considered a breakthrough on the current cognitive process as the following:
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The AFFERENT PHASE of the motor/cognitive process had been taken into consideration, at first.
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Regarding the two aspects of energy (wave and quantum).
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Both the energies of the internal and external space can be studied on the unit of time through parallelel paths as an unic process on the 3dimesional reference system body.
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The consciousness finds its biological basis.
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Psychology can become a science.
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New variables must be taken into consideration for trials.
The aim
The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the schifting of the fixation point of the two nasal hemiretina (difficulties to gaze at each other) can be considered a new marker for early diagnosis in ASD.
To get its aim, the trial, below showed, took into consideration new variables suggested by the biological theory of the mind as the following:
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Perception of the external space.
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Perception of the internal space.
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Perception of the three dimensions.
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Laterality.
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Proprioceptive constant.
Materials and methods:
Let’s call the subject ALICE, a 12-year-old autistic girl. Like all autistic subjects, she is unable to look straight in the eyes, dislike to be touched. She shows echolalia, repetitive behaviours, keen sense of hearing. She likes to sing and to listen to music. Both before and during the rehabilitative program, she did not assume any drugs.
ALICE was tested in accordance with the new methodological approch. The observations resulting from tests brought to maintain that deficits showed by her seemed to be due to missed synchronism between the visual and proprioceptive information in their reversal on the three directional axes of the reference system.
The author considered it right to apply her method in this subject. A rehabilitative program was planned; perceptive and educational goals were established.
Results
After five months of treatment (three times a week), in the proprioceptive recovery, the best meaningful result was a some acquisition of the proprioceptive constant, and the solution of simple problems in the educational program.
Perception of the internal space at the beginning and at the end of the treatment
It is interesting to observe:
how the difference of the two emi-spaces defined by the vertical axis is reduced in the picture to the right.
how the horizonal axis is nearer to the horizontal axis of the reference system in the picture to the right (at the end of the treatment).
Perception of the external space
The picture shows:
The displacement of the picture to the top of the sheet.
The perception of the information along a stright line with a forward-backward movement. This is made evident by the rainbow in particular. (the rainbow’s convex line shows the inability to reverse information along the vertical axis).
Discussion:maps alignment
The two involved modalities, somatosensory (internal) and visual (external), give rise, respectively, to somatotopic and retinotopic maps which align on the superior culliculus, brainstem and talamus before reaching the cortex.
Somatosensory modality. Taking into account the afferent phase of the motor process, I had to consider two aspects of energy: 1)displacement (wave), 2)force (quantum); the force/quantum gives rise to the 3dimensional displacement/wave in the unit of time.
Wave and Quantum have a different frequency: low frequency for wave, high frequency for quantum. For that reason they must be elaborated in a separate way. Analysing the hemispheric differences and the electric circuits, I held the RH in charge of low frequencies/wave and the LH in charge of high frequencies/quantum.
Since their ratio must be evaluated in the unit of time (electrophysiological theory by Llinas) in accordance with the spatial coordinates (up, down, right, left, forward, backward), a 3dimensional reference system and a constant are necessary. The muscle-skeletal apparatus is the R.S., the proprioception is the constant.
Movement’s origin point
In the body reference system, in accordance with the horizontal axis, the information of the lower and upper part of the body is conveyed by the cuneate and gracile fasciculus respectively;
in accordance with the vertical axis, the information is distinguished into left and right part of the body in virtue of the hemispheric differences.
In the brainstem the information reverses up-down and left to right (in the unit of time), to be elaborated in a complete way, it is solely the controlateral deviation that conveys ipsilateral information, defining in this way the movement’s origin point.
The fixation point
Visual modality: the information of the external space is reversed up-down on the retina in accordance with the horizontal axis; also, it is distinguished into temporal and nasal hemiretina in accordance with the vertical axis. Each temporal hemiretina conveys information of the controlateral visual hemifield in accordance with the hemispheric differences (low and high frequences). Whereas each nasal hemiretina conveys ipsilateral information in order to define the fixation point.
Both modalities (visual and somatosensory) have a reference system in which to register information in accordance with the spatial coordinates, also, the crossing point of the 3directional axis of the reference system body conforms with the point on which the movement’s origine point and the fixation point can align in the unit of time.
The CONSCIOUSNESS: maps alignment
Pivoting on this point, the information must be reversed up-down and from left to right and or vice versa, in the unit of time, in order to have a complete information of the two spaces.
In this way the information of the external space acquires 3dimensonality and meaning: it passes from objective to subjective acquiring consciousness.
As a consequence of what we have discussed above, it is possible to maintain that the lack of the alignment of the origin point of the movement and the fixation point in the unit of time give rise to perceptive, cognitive deficit and behavioural disturbances.
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Conclusion
In the autistic subjects, the information of the internal space elabotated by RH is ”out of time”. Such delay is also in the elaboration of the two nasal hemiretina (ipsilateral information), where the visual information is elaborated in time only as regards to quantum. As the quantum is elaborated by LH, this hemisphere will be dominant. This condition causes a shifting of the fixation point to the left with consequent inclination of the vertical axis to the left.
That prevents the information to reversal on the 3dimensional reference system body. The perceived information relays only 1)-on the reference system retina in which the vertical axis is inclined to the left, 2)- on the energy of the external space, 3)- on the quantum (LH).
Conclusions
Finally, another observation is necessary; that is: the energy of the external space (electromagnetic and acoustic) moves along straight lines with a forward-backward movement according to the laws of physics. The vertical axis inclined to the left tends to lie on the horizontal axis. All of this brings autistic subjects to process the information of the internal space as the information of the external space; that is:
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With a forward-backward movement along the horizontal axis,
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In an inconscious way,
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without meaning.
So the divergence of the fixation point can be considered a marker for early diagnosis of autism.
AUTISM’S BIOLOGICAL CAUSES
My research has gone further, inquiring into the biological causes of delayed or missed perception of the somatosensory information, in particular, in mechanisms which lead to muscular contraction.
So I analysed the direct and indirect effects of the main neurotransmitters or neuromodulators of the CNS: serotonin 5-Hydroxtryptamine.1 In “Autism: a new pespective” (2011) 2
This research hightlights and confirms the unicity of the information processing, as maintained by the biological theory of the mind. According to the latter the ASD would be due to the altered RNA editing of 5-HT2c receptor isoform which would trigger a variety of cellular responses leading to delay the muscular contraction.
The International Scientific Community should verify this study in order to:
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Recognize the scientific nature of the Biological Theory of the Mind,
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Establish scientific guidelines in the educational field.
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Make Psychology a science in the ri-educational field.
1 – The American College of Neuropsychopharmachology (2002) -Philadelphia – USA.
2 – Autism a New Perspective – (2011) Ed. Minerva Medica – Torino – Italy.