The Relationship Between Internal Action Models (IAMs) and Autism Spectrum Disorder
The templates responsible for the sensory-motor coordination in the brain rests on the aspect of Internal Action Models (IAMs). A theme that seems prevalent amongst academic circles suggests that the theory behind IAMs has connections to autism spectrum disorder. The unclear bit surrounds the relationship between IAMs and the primary phenotype in autism spectrum disorder. On the other hand, olfaction draws its basis on an IAM better known as a sniff response where the scale of the sniff after modulation comprises the valence of the odor.
Study on Sniff Response in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
A study conducted with two sets of eighteen children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the other matched ones with typically developing controls (TD). The results of the study concluded that TD children exhibited a sniff response similar to that of an adult with an odor onset within the range of three hundred and five milliseconds. On the other hand, ASD children showed an alteration in their sniffing response, but the sniffing did not change much despite the valance of the odor. In spite of the fact that the odor reception did not show stark differences, the ASD grouping based on the sniff response only comprised 81%.
Implications and Results of the Study
As such, the results of the study showed an altered olfactory response typically seen in kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder and when the severity of autism increases so does this response become more significant. The implication here involves the fact that olfaction may serve as an intervention in ASD and also provide a marker when it comes to preliminary non-verbal non-task-dependent ASD. The study also showed mixed results from studies done previously. In the same line, despite the presence of altered olfaction seen in ASD, whether it be as a result of life or exhibited early on in the ASD cascade, one could still not know.
Differences in Olfaction Research and Verbal Dependency
One of the reasons put forward for the differences observed between previously done ASD olfaction research and that of the unknown time of development involves the aspect of verbal and dependency on task as is the case with olfactory tests. These actions thus include instructions based on oral or inscribed time-limited guidelines and consequently providing answers in oral and written form. As such, this process prevents cases of testing during the ages before verbal abilities develop and thus vulnerable to differences related to ASD with regards to understanding, motivation, and general parameters that involve carrying out tasks.
Non-Language and Task-Dependent Sniff Response
The sniff response does not operate within this limits since it comprises an odor-specific answer that does not take into account the aspects of language and tasks. As such, it becomes evident that olfaction is a situation altered in ASD which typically shows itself during the ASD childhood or cascade phase, and has a connection to the severity of autism. Another notable aspect involves the fact that the sniff response across both human beings and rodents does not have any significant difference. As such, this paradigm characterized by task and language free aspects means that any future testing on an ASD animal mode which can then function as a comparison specimen with a human being can serve as a possible future candidate.
A Potential Early Marker for ASD
The findings of this suggest that a potential early marker for ASD as a possibility. However, there are some limitations for the use of this marker. First involves the fact that the study did not show much proximity to clinical research. The question also remains whether the tag specific to ASD remains so or it is a factor cutting across some developmental disorders. The third aspect involves the situation where the IQ scores for the TD cohort did not feature in the study. The importance here is that the current trend of research is a matter gravitating towards establishing a connection between IQ and the feedback to a sniff in a group with ASD.
Impairment of Internal Action Models (IAMs) in ASD
Before this tool can function as an essential tool for clinics, it needs some addressing on a particular aspect. In the same line, the findings of the research done supported a theory that has some preliminary interest amongst researchers where mechanisms associated with ASD could potentially have a connection with this theory. One such concept involves the impairment of the IAMs of ASD in that this theory has gathered interest as a possible explanation to the alteration of brain connectivity in ASD despite the fact that such changes in the connectivity structure remain vague. As such, the likely reason is that the sniff response on a larger scale depends on the connectivity that exists between the ventral temporal olfactory cortex responsible for the processing of the odor valence.
Impairment of the Visual Stare and Eye Fixation
The other one is the cerebellar circuits which perform the function of actuating the sniff response. As such, it is an interesting fact that both the ventral and cerebellar substrates of olfaction serve as neural substrates for the ASD. In this case, the results of the study seem to support the notion that the impairment of the IAMs serves as the mechanistic origin of the ASD. An explanation to the social impairments in ASD may be as a result of the distortion of the IAMs subserving aspects of the visual stare and elements of fixation of the eyes.
