When the frontal lobe of the brain is not working properly (mesolimbic pathway)
There are approximately 400,000 autistic children in Thailand, and this number is steadily increasing. This is a very serious problem.
Autistic children typically have problems with social interaction, behavior, and language.
Problems with social interaction are directly related to the brain’s Mesolimbic pathway. This is the main topic of this post, so please remember the name. It is the reward circuit of the human and animal brain.
This circuit, in short, is a circuit that makes you happy and want to repeat that behavior (reinforcement) through the chemical dopamine. For example, when a child claps and their mother smiles, the smile is a reward that makes the child want to clap again. Or when we eat sweets and feel happy, we will eat them again. When this circuit has a problem, children will be indifferent and uninterested in their surroundings. They don’t care about their parents because they don’t feel happy doing anything.
Imagine that brain cells are cities and the nerves that connect between cities are roads. All of these paths from Bangkok to Pattaya are the Mesolimbic pathway.
Bangkok is the Nucleus Accumbens, abbreviated as NAc, located in the front of the brain.
Pattaya is the ventral tegmental area, abbreviated as VTA, located in the middle of the brain.
In normal children, NAc and VTA are large and well-developed. The roads connecting the cities are like motorways, with cars running at 120 km/hr. Communication is fast.
But in the brains of autistic children, Bangkok is much smaller and underdeveloped. This is called underactivation. The roads between the cities are dirt roads, making travel between the two cities slow. This is called underconnectivity. In addition, other roads are also dirt roads, making communication between other cities even slower. It is reduced to about 20 km/hr.
This causes autistic children to have problems with social interaction. They have problems responding to eye contact, smiling, hugging, love, and bonding with others. They are more likely to live in their own world.
Stimulating this circuit is very important. The author recommends stimulating children to be happy, motivated, and interact with the people in front of them. This will help the circuit. Personally, I think this is similar to DIR floortime training. If I have patients, I will also recommend doing floortime.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) at the frontal cortex can significantly improve development in children. It is like taking an expressway, 10-30 times faster than normal. When used in combination with other treatments, it can be mutually reinforcing.
Research Summary
In autistic children, the brain’s reward circuit works “less” and “slower” than normal. Mesolimbic pathway, underactivation, underconnectivity
This causes children to have problems interacting with others and social problems.
