The video owner has disabled playback on external websites.
This video is no longer available on YouTube.
This video cannot be played right now.
Watch on YouTube
Unlock AI-Powered Learning Tools
Sign up to access powerful tools that help you learn faster from every video.
The Evolutionary Basis of Autism
Subtitles (194 segments)
Human brains are amazing, capable of
inventing everything from the wheel to
New York City. At some point in our
evolution, our brains developed our
signature sophisticated cognition, and
we never looked back. At the same time,
not all brains are alike. Some people
are built a bit different, like in the
case of autism. Turns out those two
facts might be the same fact. There's
some evidence to suggest that far from
being a recent or purely environmental
phenomenon, autism might be so hardcoded
into our brains, it's responsible for us
becoming smart in the first place. So,
let's dive into what autism has to do
with the very existence of the human
brain.
Real quick disclaimer that autistic
people like me are human and don't have
to like prove their worth by doing some
special brain thing to be deserving of
basic dignity. But if autism really did
make all of us the way we are, that's
pretty interesting. Like certain
neurosychiatric disorders, including
schizophrenia, some research suggests
that true autism only occurs in humans.
There are animal models of autism that
are useful in research. For instance,
mice are highly social, so scientists
can compare so-called deficits in a
mouse social skills with those in
humans. But autism is uniquely human in
many ways. Like, our social patterns are
much more complex and evolve a lot more
abstraction than what mice do. Non-human
primates show behaviors more akin to
human autism than rodents do, but still
Full subtitles available in the video player
Practice with Exercises
Generate vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension exercises from this video
Comments (0)
Login to CommentSign up to unlock full features
Track progress, save vocabulary, and practice exercises
Interactive Mode
Quiz
Correct answer:
Quiz
Correct answer:
Quizzes appear as you watch the video
Memory Tip
From this video
Start learning languages for free
