The connections in autistic brains are idiosyncratic and individualized

arstechnica.com

48 points·dbbolton··5 comments

Here (http://www.haaretz.com/life/science-medicine/1.624782) is another study, incidentally also from an Israeli university, where they find no anatomical differences between autistic and non-autistic ones. It can't be both -- one of them must be wrong.

Anatomical differences are macro-scale, while connective topological differences are very micro. The article mentions that the connective differences are not associated with anatomical differences.

Reading between the lines, the study described in the article you linked to used voxel-based morphometry, whereas the OP uses tractography.

The results are not contradictory.

Not so incidentally. Around 5 years ago the Israeli ministry of defense started generously funding brain research projects (they are interested in stuff like direct computer interfaces for pilots). It seems an army of brain researchers have recently moved from US and Europe to Israel.

Just because you are different, or "more individualized", doesn't mean it's good. You don't see cancer patients with unusual tumor called "individualized". Same here.

"Individualization" can mean that the person is not adjusted to the surrounding people because of some defect in brain's response to other people, for example.

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