Interdisciplinary implications on autism, savantism, Asperger syndrome and the biophysical picture representation: Thinking in pictures

It seems that neurotypical individuals (people without autism) have a hidden ability for savant-like skills, and these special abilities can be accessible via top-down cortical disinhibition of the left fronto-temporal lobe by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). It is well known that enhanced visual function in striate and extrastriate areas is a common character in autists, savants and subjects with Asperger syndrome. In addition, visual cortex not only processes visual signals but also is involved in the processing of mathematical thinking and auditory signals among them. Here we argue about the essential (and more ancient) role of picture representation over linguistic representation in ASD and that extraordinary savant-like skills are due to the explicit predominance of the right hemisphere (a malfunction of top-down control processes) accompanied with prevalence of lower level detailed visual information in the right hemisphere. Our recently presented novel biophysical picture representation hypothesis (also called as intrinsic biophysical virtual visual reality) about visual perception and imagery is also briefly described and linked to the predominance of lower level and detailed visual representation in the right hemisphere that may be a common character in autism, savantism, and Asperger syndrome.