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Browsing by Subject "Autism Spectrum Disorders"

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    Item type:Article, Access status: Open Access ,
    Computational approach to understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders
    (Wydawnictwa AGH, 2012) Duch, Włodzisław; Nowak, Wiesław; Meller, Jarosław; Osiński, Grzegorz; Dobosz, Krzysztof; Mikołajewski, Dariusz; Wójcik, Grzegorz Marcin
    Every year the prevalence of Autism Spectrum of Disorders (ASD) is rising. Is there a unifying mechanism of various ASD cases at the genetic, molecular, cellular or systems level? The hypothesis advanced in this paper is focused on neural dysfunctions that lead to problems with attention in autistic people. Simulations of attractor neural networks performing cognitive functions help to assess system long-term neurodynamics. The Fuzzy Symbolic Dynamics (FSD) technique is used for the visualization of attractors in the semantic layer of the neural model of reading. Large-scale simulations of brain structures characterized by a high order of complexity requires enormous computational power, especially if biologically motivated neuron models are used to investigate the influence of cellular structure dysfunctions on the network dynamics. Such simulations have to be implemented on computer clusters in a grid-based architectures.
  • thumbnail.journal.alt
    Item type:Article, Access status: Open Access ,
    Simple cyclic movements as a distinct autism feature – computational approach
    (Wydawnictwa AGH, 2013) Dobosz, Krzysztof; Mikołajewski, Dariusz; Wójcik, Grzegorz Marcin; Duch, Włodzisław
    A diversity of symptoms in autism dictates a broad definition of AutismSpec-trum of Disorders (ASD). Each year, the percentage of children diagnosed with ASD is growing. One common diagnostic feature in individuals with ASD is the tendency to exhibit atypical simple cyclic movements.The motor brain activity seems to generate a periodic attractor state that is hard to escape. Despite numerous studies, scientists and clinicians do not know exactly if ASD is a result of a simple yet general mechanism or of a complex set of mechanisms (either on the neural, molecular and system levels). Simulations using the biologically- relevant neural network model presented here may help to reveal the simplest mechanisms that may be responsible for specific behavior. Abnormal neural fatigue mechanisms may be responsible for motor symptoms as well as many (or perhaps all) of the other symptoms observed in ASD.