Default X-brain theory 48: Autism and Auditory cognition

In this lecture, two specific sites of involvement in autism—rather than the entire pathological mechanism—were selected for discussion: the left pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus and the left amygdala. Anatomical drawings were used to illustrate the sites of injury. The left pulvinar and left amygdala specialize in central auditory attention, whereas the right pulvinar and right amygdala specialize in lateral auditory. But the auditory system is different from visual system as the person can transphere the central auditory attention to the both sides because central auditory system takes innervation from both sides. Here, I hypothesize that a lesion in the left pulvinar would cause severe distortion of central auditory attention in an autistic patient, thereby severely disrupting auditory memory formation—which, in this context, would rely primarily on lateral auditory attention. This may offer some clarity in explaining the symptoms of autism.