In this episode, we explore three regions associated with social awareness- the medial Prefrontal Cortex, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex, and the Insula. We review the functions of each, the interactions between each region, and the inputs and bi-directional connections to some crucial areas of the brain. In large part, we will review adaptive responses and cover some scientific literature on these regions and the implications to Autism.

https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-024-00593-6

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9354837/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6766703/#:~:text=Schematic%20structure%20of%20different%20regions,and%20infralimbic%20cortex%20(IL).

https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(12)01108-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627312011087%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06016-9

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763409000815?via%3Dihub#aep-section-id15

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17470919.2023.2242095

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006322308011578

(0:00) Intro; mPFC, ACC, and Insula

(3:26) mPFC, Excitation / Inhibition; CNTNAP2, SHANK3, Neuroligin, and PTEN

(7:42) Functions of mPFC and a primary dive into Adaptive Responses; Neuromodulators

(13:52) ACC

(15:23) the mPFC and ACC lead the way

(19:29) Scientific Studies on Theory of Mind Task and Sensory Processing

(21:52) Insula

(26:49) Scientific Study: Eye Gaze, Social Attention, Social Cognition, Observational Learning

(30:11) Social and Nonsocial Studies- different areas for Autistics versus Non-Autistic

(32:38) A study using 6-week-old Infants, attentional biases and sensorimotor and different brain areas

(35:05) Wrap Up

email: info.fromthespectrum@gmail.com

In this episode, we discuss biology of anxiety, responses from anxiety, and common situations causing anxiety with Autism. The stress response system of the body is very finite and the nervous system reflexively responds based on what it knows. A few biological components of anxiety include the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the spine. Common responses to anxiety include avoidance, shifts in physiology, and valance, or how we feel about the situation. To end, we have a lengthy discussion on some common sources of anxiety.

Biology and Anxiety https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6690364/

Deisseroth on Anxiety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtCeIefq_PM

Deisseroth on Autism and Anxiety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oiKOX2lCmE

Physiological Sighs https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00474-8

Jack Feldman https://bioscience.ucla.edu/people/jack-feldman/

David Spiegel https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/david-spiegel

Joseph LeDoux https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/joseph-e-ledoux.html

(0:00) Intro; Comorbid Tendency and the DSM

(2:56) Anxiety's role

(3:42) Biology and responses of Anxiety; Amygdala and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis; Avoidance, Physiology, Valance

(7:48) Avoidance (Action)- Hypothalamus

(9:11) Brief notes on Cortex

(11:36) Back to the Hypothalamus

(12:27) Physiology/Breathing (Body)- Parabrachial Nucleus; Physiological Sigh; Brainstem, Spine, and Body

(17:48) Valance (Feelings)- Ventral Tegmental Area; direct or indirect exposure- it doesn't matter

(20:00) Dopamine, Neuroplasticity, Side note on Testosterone, Multiple words have the same meaning

(24:58) Common situations for Anxiety and Autism

(35:58) Wrap Up, Reviews and Ratings, Contact Info

In this episode, we cover Autism and employment- some Superpowers and some Superdeficits. We discuss different types of work that are easier and fit our abilities and cover some challenges in the workplace. Some challenges include the social dynamic and being misunderstood, which are driving forces and sources of burnout and avoidance. Remember the metabolic "bank" account and the Excitation/Inhibition discussion.

Brain Science and Sir Simon Baron-Cohen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxfq_QLuUU

Brain Science Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@BrainSciencePodcast

Pattern Seekers by Sir Simon Baron-Cohen https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Seekers-Autism-Drives-Invention/dp/1541647149

Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin https://www.amazon.com/Autistic-Brain-Temple-Grandin/dp/0544227735

(0:00) Intro; Clip of Sir Simon Baron-Cohen on Brain Science with Dr. Ginger Campbell; Society's trap and time perception

(6:20) Autism and awareness; Do others see or understand our abilities

(9:12) The applying process and the interview- we hate look at me; Superdeficits are easier to remember; Honesty and accuracy and Employers don't have an accurate comparison

(12:39) Understanding the Autistic Brain

(14:25) Autistic Traits - some Superpowers

(21:20) Autistic Traits - some Superdeficits

(28:43) Good and Bad: Perfectionism- a tough balance

(30:42) Do things that you can do, you will do, and you love to do; The Nervous System just does; See Temple Grandin and Sir Simon Baron-Cohen on types of employment for different types of Autistic Brains

(31:38) Reviews and Ratings; Contact Information

In this episode, we discuss Autism and Education. We explore some current condition within education and some personal experiences. Specifically, the school day is in complete conflict with Autism- both Criteria A and B. This is the primary factor with the challenges of Autism in Education. The classroom requires a Social Dynamic, a Speech and Language Dynamic, and Sensory-Processing Dynamic, which is 3 strikes against Autism. In addition, the subject switching throughout the school day complicates our path of learning- Our learning style prefers spending extended times on a single subject. Autism gives us the ability to be comfortable within ourselves and this accelerates our learning, our Superpowers. School and the world mostly requires the social communication and interaction.

Antipsychotics https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/antipsychotic-drugs-market-2784#:~:text=The%20antipsychotic%20drugs%20market%20size,period%20(2023%20%2D%202030).

Pediatrician and Psychologists on the Medical Paradigm https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/radically-genuine-podcast-with-dr-roger-mcfillin/id1573253801?i=1000624733618

Autism and Education https://www.fhautism.com/shop/autism-and-education-the-way-i-see-it-what-parents-and-teachers-need-to-know/

Thinking in Pictures https://www.grandin.com/inc/visual.thinking.html

Autism and Intelligence and an Explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxNg0xcadsM&t=316s

(0:00) Intro; Autism and Education; Are Educators educated on Autism?; Biases from others towards the environment

(7:00) The Prescription Era; Medication first Paradigm

(10:32) The School Day- Conflicts with Criteria A and B; Limits a Capacity to Think; Underlying thoughts and feelings of agitation and frustration when learning;

(13:15) Autism gives us the ability to be comfortable within ourselves; Are we like the so-called normal people, or not?

(13:39) The Classroom- Social Dynamic, Speech and Language Dynamic, Sensory-Processing Dynamic, 3 strikes against Autism;

(14:39) Subject Switching and Criteria B conflict

(17:14) If you have met one child with Autism, you have met one child with Autism

(17:49) Elementary School, 2 reasons why Reading is HARD, Social dynamic experience;

(23:07) 4th Grade personal experience- easy task from the outside, tremendous difficulty for Autistics;

(27:00) Art was fine, other subjects were not fine; Details to General versus General to Details;

(27:58) High School personal experiences; Pathway to Success > General Education;

(29:52) Did I graduate, or Not?

(31:56) SAT

(32:43) Assessment Superpowers and Superdeficits- Very Superior to Severe/Impaired; Schools simply cannot accommodate to all- within group (Autistic to Autistic) or between group (Autistic to Masses)

(36:34) Education Arrangement; Taking Notes is challenging

(39:16) Wrap Up, Reviews, Ratings, Feedback, Contact Information

Criteria B is Autism. Hans Aspergers called the children with the syndrome "little professors." This is Autism. Our routines and fixated interests. Autism gives us the ability to be comfortable within ourselves, and this accelerates our abilities, our Superpowers. How will society handle these so-called "differences" and the conflict within the so-called "normal" people?

In this episode, we expand to real-life examples of Criteria B components and review some personal experiences.

Dopamine Nation (Pleasure and Pain SeeSaw) https://www.annalembke.com

https://www.templegrandin.com/templegrandinbooks.html

(0:00) Intro; Autism is Criteria B, how will society handle "differences," those differences create conflict in others, stimulus-response, conflict, and comfort

(4:44) Routines (B2) and Plans, Exact Planning, Plan versus Actual Time and Execution, Reality meets our Visualized Thinking; Pleasure and Pain SeeSaw; More Relationship Struggles Implicated by Criteria B,

(9:01) Punctual- for others and ourselves; Bias yourself into Action; Understanding the need for Breaks; Others take the easy way out; get Sunlight for our Biology

(12:34) Personal Experience and a Glimpse into an Autistic Thought; Traffic Spacing

(16:33) Researching Items and Fixated Interests (B3); personal experience; Hans Aspergers and his Little Professors- This is Autism!

(20:40) Other examples- Pant Sizes and Alpha instead of Numerical, Restaurant Rant, Never Underestimate a Human's Capacity to Think; Don't try to change Autism because it is offends you- offends your expectations and beliefs

(23:12) Reviews and Ratings and Contact Information

Don't try to change an Autistic Person because they are "different" than you.

In this episode, we explore more examples of Criteria A- Deficits in Social Communication and Interaction. Yay, more DSM-5-TR. Can you fit in, or not? Are you like the so-called "normal" people, or not? This episode is highlighted by personal experiences and examples. Plus, I have three jokes. The examples and episode is not exhaustive, however, I try to capture some of the conditions on the spectrum. There are lots of examples in our social world that just does not make sense, and we like to say, "that does not make sense."

See Jack Kruse, Quantum Engineering 45

(0:00) Introduction; Crude Symptoms intend to capture the Spectrum; Can you fit in, or not? Are you like the so-called normal people, or not?

(2:08) Facts and Reality over Make-Believe; Methodical and Seeing Bottlenecks in Society- I hate "that's just the way it is"; Traffic; Names- Landon?, Associations; Repeating things- I hate, "like I said."

(7:09) "This does not make Sense"; Romantic Interests and Joke 1; Verbal Responses; Task-Switching from Fixated Interests; Sound Blends

(11:44) Social Media Use- Strange; Eye-Contact- Humans say we need to do it, and We are not Birds; Leaving Social Gatherings and Joke 2, the gathering will gather without me

(15:32) High-Fives = Stereotypy?; I hate Favors- favors create conflict; Henry David Thoreau; Self-Checkout Lanes and Autism, Neuroplasticity and Preference; Emotional Empathy

(20:04) Debriefing and Understanding; Supplementing Relationships and Visual Thinking; Joke 3 and Fixated Interests and Perfect Intensity- the DSM can have it's "abnormal" label; Echolalia; Fitting In and Modeling as a Blueprint

(26:03) Wrap-Up; Don't try to change an Autistic Person because They are "different" than you; Contact Information

In Part 2 of the Excitation and Inhibition phenomena, we discuss Metabolic "bank" account and demands of navigating the social world. We discuss if we have enough resources or if we will run a metabolic deficits (think burnout and avoidance, and social isolation). We cover NMDA and AMPA and different Autistic Phenotypes. In addition, we review Neuromodulators, which are vast in our biology and determine how and where to direct our attention and energy. Lastly, we discuss the medial Prefrontal Cortex and how it integrates the "self" with the outside world.

Don't try to change an Autistic person because they are different than you or different than others. Don't let that offend your beliefs and capacity to apply critical thinking in life.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-023-02317-5

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5723386/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-018-0155-1

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10360

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1034/j.1601-183X.2003.00037.x?sid=nlm%3Apubmed

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01506-w

(0:00) Introduction; Know Autism and Make Informed Decisions; Biological Aspects influencing Excitation / Inhibition Phenomena

(4:30) Metabolic "Bank" Account and Resources; E/I creates criteria A and B; NMDA and AMPA, and more on the Striatum

(10:02) Neuromodulators- Serotonin, Dopamine, Epinephrine and Norepinephrine, Acetylcholine; Active versus Passive Coping; Activating Systems and Cells and influencing Learning and Memory (Neuroplasticity); Nicotinic Receptors and Rapid-Excitation

(15:20) medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC)- Metabolic demands and planning while considering Feelings, Integrating the Self and the Outside World; How E/I interacts; a brief explanation on Default Mode Network; Quieting the Body, or not; Information-Processing; Thalamocortical

(20:19) Pursuits and Preference- Wanting and Having and being Autistic is fine, and others need to accept our phenotypes; sensory-input causes Faster Firing Rates in normal E/I- Image an imbalanced E/I

(22:25) Wrap-up and understanding Autism, and Contact Info

In this episode, we discuss the Excitation and Inhibition Phenomena in Autism. There are many biological aspects implicating the E/I balance, and the Nervous System needs a healthy balance. This episode extends slightly downstream of the Genetic and Protein implications previously discussed. We discuss cortical and subcortical areas, sensations, introduce Glutamate and GABA, and discuss the critical period. The critical period is, pardon the pun, a critical period for Autism. In addition, we discuss BDNF and introduce neuroplasticity. Finally, we discuss Melanin and Melanopsin and sunlight and modern light, and the vast implications from our new environment. To end, we connect many modern diseases to these biological factors.

See Dr. Jack Kruse Quantum Engineering 45

Email: info.fromthespectrum@gmail.com