Aspies For Freedom

I was reading an article I thought interesting because scientists are searching to find what area in the brain is cative when someone is being "KIND".

Then I get to the end and am absolutely FLOORED by the presumption.

Quote:

Scientists discover the 'kind' part of the brain
Last updated at 12:14pm on 22nd January 2007

Charity begins...in the posterior superior temporal salcus, according to scientists who have traced the origins of altruism in the brain.

A study found that this part of the brain is more active in people who often engage in helpful behaviour.

The region, which lies in the top and back portion of the brain, is linked to sorting out social relationships.

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US scientists scanned the brains of 45 volunteers using a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging which can watch the brain working.

At the same time, participants either played a computer game, or watched the computer play the game on its own. In either case, winning the game earned money for a chosen charity.

Volunteers were also questioned about how often they put others before themselves - in other words, how altruistic they were.

The brain scans revealed that the most charitable showed the most activity in the posterior superior temporal salcus when the computer game was being played.

Study leader Dr Scott Huettel, a neuroscientist from Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina, said: "Although understanding the function of this brain region may not necessarily identify what drives people like Mother Theresa, it may give clues to the origins of important social behaviours like altruism."

Further research in the area may lead to greater understanding of disorders such as autism or antisocial behaviour, say the researchers.

The findings were reported in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Did they actually TEST Autistics in this study, or is this just a blurb they through in there at the end???

I'm starting to feel like the caveman in the Gieco commercials.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVSmnnqfvc

If they didn't test any autistics then that is a certainly a random thing to put in. Doesn't sound very scientific.

The whole study sounds very unscientific to me. The whole measure of how altruistic someone is depends entirely on how altruistic they SAY they are?!? I KNOW some of those people lied.
And yes, that comment at the end clearly stems from some asumption that autistics are less charitable. Where do you get THAT idea?

This study doesn't seem very well designed.

And nobody here can be happy about autism being lumped in with antisocial disorders, which are a completely different diagnostic category.
As far as being kind is concerned, out of all the people I've known in person it was the Aspies who tended to be genuinely nicer....just not in a way NTs recognize. The two diagnosed Aspies I knew had some social communication problems, but when they did something nice for you you knew they meant it and weren't just trying to get something from you. It wasn't in them to focus too much on the superficial things about people, either.
Not that some Aspies can't be total jerks the same as some NTs, but I find it less common.

There are a few reasons why I hate this study.

A. That line is based on the assumption that autistics don't care about people in need. That's not true.

B. Neurology is taking the magic out of emotions. It makes me feel sad.

This forum NEEDS AN EDIT BUTTON.

C. It is possibly that most of the volunteers don't know exactly how charitable they are, and may have said something that isn't true.

It may seem to some that autistics arent kind because they don't show all of the social cues of "kindness" like eye contact, openness, and that stuff.

Yes, it's understandable that 'some' would see autistics as unkind - but 'scientists' who throw around such lazy presumptions can't be trusted to do reliable research. Sad

See how they make that link: "disorders such as autism or antisocial behaviour" ?

They're not directly saying "autism = antisocial = psychopathy" but that's the conclusion they plant in the mind of the reader. (Anti-social personality disorder is closely related to psychopahic personality.)

But read the DSM on Antisocial Personality Disorder and the difference between APD and Autism is obvious:

Antisocial PD is characterized by "a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others " including these:

1 failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest

2 deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure

3 impulsivity or failure to plan ahead

4 irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated fights or assaults (both physically or mentally)

5 reckless disregard for safety of self or others

6 consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain steady work or honor financial obligations

7 lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

Of course there are AS people who have antisocial traits. But the huge majority of Antisocial/Psychopaths are NOT AS. I believe, in fact, an actual diagnosis of AS precludes APD.

A lack of empathy does not mean one cannot be altruistic. Such altruism, while entirely mental, is still quite real--and probably more effective than altruism motivated by emotions.

45 is a rather small study group too, and it is only one study. I would like to know if the results could be replicated in a larger group and with a better designed experiment.

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