Theory of mind suggests that the ability to determine another's state of mind is innate and developed, displayed through stages as a child grows. The shared attention phenomenon demonstrates an early sign of this (gaze following and interest sharing). If the theory of Mental Blindness is true, ASD children should show impaired or no signs of this.

Largely, this is determined to be true. Failing to show signs of shared attention in infants is a predictive sign of future ASD diagnosis in infants, and is utilized as an early screening tool. 

Theory of Mind's Innate Mechanism Development and ASD Children

If Mind Blindness theory is true, ASD children should not be able to or should show impaired ability to determine the mental states of others. 

To test this, the false belief task of the Sally-Ann task was devised by Wimmer and Perner (1983). In this task, Sally puts a marble in a basket while Ann is watching. Sally leaves, Ann moves the marble to a box while Sally is not looking. Sally returns, and the question is posed where Sally will search for her marble. If a child understands Sally's beliefs and point of view, they will answer basket, as that is where she last saw it. If a child doesn't understand Sally's point of view, they will answer box, because that is where the marble currently is. 

- Sally-Ann Task Results
- Potential Problems with the False Belief Task


ASD and the False Belief Task: Sally-Ann Task

Peak brain region areas for mentalizing across the 6 considered studies appear to be medial prefrontal cortex, temporal parietal junction above the superior temporal gyrus, and temporal poles adjacent to the amygdala. However, at the time of this review, no studies were found connecting these three regions and their role in mentalizing. 

Mentalizing failure could be linked to structural abnormalities in one or more regions of the system, as shown in Abell et al. 1999 and Happe et al. 1996, where differences in amount of gray matter and activation were noted. Decreased gray matter and activation in the anterior parts of the system, in particular the paracingulate sulcus and inferior frontal gyrus. Increases of gray matter were observed in the posterior parts, particularly in the peri-amygdaloid cortex and the middle temporal and inferior temporal gyrus. This suggests amygdala dysfunction in ASD as a potential component on mind blindness. 


Functional Brain Imaging and the Neural Substrate of Mentalizing

This literature review paper examines evidence supporting the Mind Blindness theory of autism. It was published in 2001, though, so it is important to keep in mind this publication and its citations are pre-DSM-5 and potentially outdated. 

- Theory of Mind's Innate Mechanisms and ASD Children
- ASD and the False Belief Task 
- Functional Brain Imaging and the Neural Substrate of Mentalizing

University of Rochester

Boston College

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

This list includes different theories or concepts that are used to explain, define, or otherwise provide further insight into the workings of autism spectrum and related disorders. These include:
- TBD

Note: There is a separate subsequent node specifically for theories & concepts that are outdated and/or discredited. 

Theories & Concepts Relevant to Autism Spectrum and Related Disorders

Frith, U. (2001). Mind blindness and the brain in autism. Neuron, 32(6), 969–979. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00552-9

Mind Blindness and the Brain in Autism: Journal Literature Review

Executive function refers to functions such as planning, working memory, impulse control, inhibition, and mental flexibility. Traditionally, these functions have been tied to the frontal lobe, particularly the prefrontal cortex. Many signs of autism that are observed are related to disrupted executive function, causing repeated behaviors and rigid schedules among other behaviors. Executive Dysfunction seems to be a product of differences in the frontal lobe, caused by injury or neurodevelopmental disorders. It can also contribute to difficulties with emotional/behavioral regulation.

Executive Dysfunction

Discredited

The is the belief that autism is a manifestation of the male brain to an extreme level. This is because the female brain was expected to show high levels of empathy compared to the male brain which supposably showed high levels of systemising. People with autism scored high levels on a systemizing scale with low levels on empathising. In addition, people with autism tend to prefer structure and are good at noticing patterns. Other evidence for this theory is a male parent's supposed lack of affection to children, which showed a disinterest in the child. Children with autism are less likely to look at people's faces. 

Outdated statistics show that boys are far more likely to have autism than girls, and that boys naturally gravitate to systems, i.e. toy cars, after one day of life.

Extreme Male Brain 

Central Coherence is a person's ability to focus on the big picture instead of only the small (local) details. For example, a person wearing a shirt can focus on each individual strand of fiber or the shirt as a whole. People with weak central coherence have difficulty looking at the whole and tends to hyperfixate on the local. This tends to appear in people with autism at higher rates than people with other neural abilities.


Areas that show weak coherence

- face recognition

- music processing

- visual stimuli

- low suseptability to illusions

Weak Central Coherence

One of the most controversial and frustrating movements regarding ASD theories revolves around the idea that vaccines could cause ASD. Where this came from and why it prevails is an interesting study in itself that delves into human psychology and our desire to find blame for thing we don't entirely understand.

- Where the Theory of Vaccines and ASD Came From
- History of the Vaccines Cause Autism Movement
- Why Vaccines Absolutely Do Not Cause Autism
- Vaccines and ASD Library

Vaccines and ASD: Why the Connection?

Mind Blindness and the Brain in Autism

* What is parallel play?
* Benefits of parallel play
* Parallel play and the autistic community
* References

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