Research Input: What do YOU want to know most about?

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Background for myself: I am the son of an Aspie and have two nephews with Aspergers as well. The brain has fascinated me for years and thus I have pursued a degree in Neuroscience. At this time I am now looking to post graduate work for a clinical psychology phd with neuropsychology emphasis. At the climax of my career I hope to be a practicing neuropsychologist while also performing autistic spectrum research.

In preparation for my clinical psychology phd program I have been pondering on what I would like to narrow my research to during the program. I have a few ideas but it occurred to me today that my questions about aspergers and other autistic spectrum disorders are likely different from anyone who actually experiences the disorder themselves. I have biological questions and genetics questions and all that jazz but that may be less relevant to what people with autism may actually want to know about what is going on.

So, in this discussion I would like to ask for input and ideas as to what you would like to see researched about autism on any level of specificity. In the end I hope to be able to narrow the suggestions to related topics (possibly through a poll) and choose the one that is both most capable of completing during a phd program and also capable of completing with my available resources. There are no poor suggestions. Thanks!

Meltdowns/Shutdowns.

There isn't really enough know and people tent to treat them like tantrums but there is defiantly more going on there. For me they come with:
Inability to form sentences
think rationally
control my emotions.
I think it has to do with the prefrontal lobe but I like to know exactly what is going on.
And those days where it feels like the various bits of my brain don't want to talk.

I have nonverbal learning disorder, it for all intensive purposes acts like ASD, but the cause is right brain hemisphere abnormalities of some kind, for me to figure out my exact abnormalities, I'd need I think an FMRI, and I don't have the money or drive to really pursue study of it like that. I've had good luck with doing more athletic things, it makes my reaction times faster and thinking more fluid, and I've also had good luck with some herbal supplements, but currently, I compensate a lot by taking a lot of caffeine and stimulants, which isn't healthy, but it's a brute force way of getting things working so I can go through the day.

Anyway, I'd like specific research on NVLD, as there's not enough being done. I'm also interested in a way to get the right brain working better, if pharmaceutical drugs can help in anyway, besides just "brute forcing" it with stimulants.

http://www.nldontheweb.org/

As a neuroscientist myself, I have far too many questions that I want answered. And not just about ASDs. Neuroimaging, particularly fMRI, is my passion. I hope to get my Ph.D in the future and help understand the vast mysteries of cognition. The fact that a neuron can create thought, when it has no real distinguishing characteristics from other cells in the body, in and of itself fascinates me. How can a simple molecule make you feel? Why? And how can abnormal wiring and neurotransmitter levels create such a vast array of symptoms? Neuroscience is the one field where we barely know anything. Harvey figured out the basics of the circulatory system way back in the 17th Century. Here we are in 2012 and we hardly know the general function(s) of most brain regions.

How to spread the word of acceptance.

Look into the neurological processing glitches that cause all the problems:

- Meltdowns/shutdowns.
- Sensory issues.
- Social issues.
- Motor skills issues.
- Time delay in processing input and generating output.
- Neurological overloads that lead to much of these problems.
- Tendency to have comorbid conditions--they undoubtedly are also neurologically based, so may be caused by the same or similar glitches.

Although I am not as bad off as many others on the spectrum, I have problems in all of these areas. Lucky me--NOT!

To add on to what I and others wrote, sensory issues are an area that particularly fascinates me. What I find really strange is how one person can be hypersensitive in one sensory modality but HYPOsensitive in another. It's contradictory and makes little sense...

Ohh, I was reading a study about the ratio of different brain cells in NT and AS/HFA people,
as part of it it briefly looked into age just to rule it out as a factor. And (I'll choose my wording carfully)
while a reduction in the number of neurons was shown in neurotypical people as they age, The
same could not be shown for AS/HFA people.

That is not to say that we don't loose them over time only that it couldn't be shown.

I am moar interested in sensory perception and autistic cognition and less interested in social cognition.

How do autistic people perceive the world differently from NTs, and how do autistic people think differently from NTs?

I am moar interested in "Thinking In Pictures" and less interested in "Look Me In The Eye", although both books were good.

I'd like to know how come I have a HORRIBLE short-term memory.

I actually took the title of this thread to mean what would I like to do research about at the moment. I was going to tell you vegetation in the deep south. But that's not what you meant, is it?

I suppose I'd like to know why my urge to explain things in great detail and give the backstory or history all the time is so hard to resist. I do this so much that it puts people off, even being aware that I'm doing it. In other words, why can't I shut up?

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

There's two things I'm really interested in and that I'd like to know more about.

1) Stimming (why it's done, different kinds, etc.)

2) Asperger's Syndrome in women

Stimming for me, also. But sensory issues are very important.
Also, I would like some research on how autism changes throughout a person's life..
At 50, I still have some traits, but I wonder how it is for others on the spectrum?

Sincerely,
Matthew