title: The medial prefrontal cortex and integration in autism.
abstract: This article offers a unifying theoretical interpretation of known abnormalities in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in four psychological domains, namely emotion, memory, sensation-perception, and motor skills. It proposes that in all four domains three levels of processing can be identified: a basic level, an integrative level, and a "logical" or higher-order level. It also notes that in typically developing people, there is evidence that the integrative level is subserved by subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex. The major argument of the article is to propose and argue that the integrative level in all four domains is responsible for common atypicalities in people with ASDs.
authors.affiliation: Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. doritb@bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Dorit Ben
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Shalom
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000503:physiopathology*