Retained Primitive Reflexes and Potential for Intervention in Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Robert Melillo; Gerry Leisman; Calixto Machado; Yanin Machado-Ferrer; Mauricio Chinchilla-Acosta; Shanine Kamgang; Ty Melillo; Eli Carmeli

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.922322

Retained Primitive Reflexes and Potential for Intervention in Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Front Neurol. 2022 Jul 7:13:922322. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.922322. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Robert Melillo¹, Gerry Leisman^{1

2}, Calixto Machado³, Yanin Machado-Ferrer³, Mauricio Chinchilla-Acosta³, Shanine Kamgang⁴, Ty Melillo⁵, Eli Carmeli¹

Affiliations

¹ Movement and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
² Department of Neurology, University of the Medical Sciences of Havana, Havana, Cuba.
³ Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Havana, Cuba.
⁴ Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵ Northeast College of the Health Sciences, Seneca Falls, New York, NY, United States.

Abstract

We provide evidence to support the contention that many aspects of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are related to interregional brain functional disconnectivity associated with maturational delays in the development of brain networks. We think a delay in brain maturation in some networks may result in an increase in cortical maturation and development in other networks, leading to a developmental asynchrony and an unevenness of functional skills and symptoms. The paper supports the close relationship between retained primitive reflexes and cognitive and motor function in general and in ASD in particular provided to indicate that the inhibition of RPRs can effect positive change in ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders; bottom-up processing; maturational delay; neuronal synchrony; retained primitive reflexes; top-down processing.

Publication types

Review