Comparative Analysis of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Schizophrenia in Childhood
Abstract Several problems arise during the diagnosis of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or children with child schizophrenia due to the similarity of mechanisms and manifestations of these two types of pathology. In this paper we analyzed the literature data to determine the differences in the diagnosis of ASD and schizophrenia. This issue is important for understanding the fundamental patterns of these two types of disorders during child development and for appropriate correction and rehabilitation procedures. We identified some consistent indicators of bioelectric activity typical of schizophrenic and autistic types of development. The indicators of the schizophrenic type include "hypofrontality" (i.e. a large representation of slow rhythms in frontal areas) and dextral dominance of the a rhythm. The indicators of the autistic type include the maximum reduction of the a rhythm accompanied by an increase in the g rhythm representation, changes in synchronization of slow waves during cognitive task performance, maximal activation of visual and acoustical areas of the cortex (which may be associated with abnormally low thresholds in autistic children) Verbal function is more affected in ASD than in schizophrenia; the recognition of mental condition of other people is more disordered. Significant differences between ASD and schizophrenia were detected in comparing attention function disturbances. Marked and vigorous changes in the mirror neuron system were observed in ASD; data on mirror neurons in schizophrenia are contradictory.
Human Physiology