Autism & Micro Movements

Children with autism and their parents often share small abnormal movement patterns that are much too minuscule to recognize with just the naked eye. Although those that are considered to be on the autism spectrum are commonly known to have problems with motor skills, the less noticeable movements, or micro movements, analyzed in the study done by the Society for Neuroscience cannot be intentionally suppressed. Thirty people with autism (ages ranging from 10 to 30 years old), twenty-one parents of children with autism, and eight neurotypical adults were told to point at and reach out to a target on a screen approximately 100 times in a row to test the micro movements necessary in their actions. All subjects showed signs of peripheral spikes, or p-spikes, which are small increases in speed in between actions, but could be set into categories. P-spikes of those with autism were haphazardly dispersed while, at the same time, most of the parents of autistic children possessed movements resembling their offspring's. Which means that these tests could possibly contribute toward early recognition and diagnosis of autism, though it would have to be researched more because neurotypical 3 to 5 year olds have the same amount and randomness of the p-spikes. Micro movements could be used in clinical trials to assess a drug's capability, along with being used for early intervention. (Eck, 2014)

Photo Credit:  Jonathan Cohen / Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Works Cited: Eck, A. (2014, November 17). Children with Autism May Have Inherited Abnormal “Micro-Movement” Patterns. Retrieved August 23, 2015.