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Frontal Lobe Findings in Autism

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Synonyms

Emotion and decision-making; Executive functions; Frontal lobe functions; Mirror mechanisms; Social cognition

Structure

Frontal Lobes: Anatomy and Function

The frontal lobes constitute the largest part of the human brain. Anatomically, they represent those areas of the cortex anterior to the central sulcus. They are the last to mature during development, and only reach full maturity by the mid-20s.

Function

The frontal cortex can roughly be divided into the following parts with corresponding functions:

  • Frontal operculum: language, mirror mechanisms

  • Precentral: motor

  • Dorsolateral prefrontal: executive functions

  • Orbitofrontal/ventromedial: emotion, decision-making, response inhibition

  • Anterior cingulate: choice selection, reward, social emotion, empathy, response monitoring

  • Medial prefrontal: social cognition

Lesions of the frontal lobes are characterized by profound personality changes, described in the famous case of Phineas Gage (Damasio 1994). Other elements of frontal...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Nouchine Hadjikhani

  2. Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

    Nouchine Hadjikhani

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  1. Nouchine Hadjikhani
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Correspondence to Nouchine Hadjikhani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Hadjikhani, N. (2020). Frontal Lobe Findings in Autism. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_212-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_212-3

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