University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Department of Neuroscience and The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience presents Joshua Ewen, MD, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Director of Clinical Neurophysiology Clinic and Laboratory at the Kennedy Krieger Institute Baltimore, MD

Psychology and Physiology of Altered Gesture in ASD

Kanner described altered motor function in the original 1943 report of autism, and deficits in imitation have been known since the 1970’s. While motor function is not the most functionally affecting symptom of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), motor tasks are relatively easy to quantify, and the motor system has been mapped better than networks associated with social/communicative function. Our lab has teased apart gestural imitation and execution as a method of deriving conclusions about both psychological theories of ASD and about alterations of brain function that may impact behavior relevant to the disorder.