Temple Grandin, PhD, is likely the most well-known living autistic individual, both nationally and internationally. She is not only a renowned scientist and educator but also an esteemed author and advocate. Across the decades of her life, she has spent considerable time on her personal pursuit of knowledge and understanding about autism and the ways that it influences her perception and interpretation of the world around her. As a Distinguished Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, her professional pursuits involve studying animal behavior and, in particular, designing humane livestock-handling systems.
As a part of her personal quest, Dr. Grandin volunteered to undergo advanced brain imaging scans and neuropsychological testing to look more closely at the connections between brain structure and function and cognition. Throughout several of her writings, Dr. Grandin has talked about how she “thinks in pictures, not words,” and speculated about potential differences in brain organization and connectivity and their relationship to how she processes sound and visual stimuli.
“Dr. Grandin’s willingness to undergo advanced neuroimaging and cognitive testing has provided a rare and invaluable opportunity to explore how brain structure and function relate to the lived experience of autism,” says Janet Lainhart, MD, Waisman Center principal investigator and senior author on Grandin’s case study.
In the new case study, published in the Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology, Dr. Grandin worked with the Interdisciplinary Science to Learn about Autism (ISLA) collaborative research program, which includes researchers from the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), to conduct advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a battery of neuropsychological tests. Combining neuropsychological testing and advanced MRI techniques offers unique opportunities to understand the relationship between brain structure, cognitive function, and behavior.
Whole-brain connectogram (middle left) shows structural links among right (cortical = cyan, subcortical = red) and left (cortical = black, subcortical = green) nodes. Derived views emphasize inter- and intra-hemispheric parietal connectivity (top middle), highlight dominant right-hemisphere ipsilateral coupling. The interhemispheric-only connectogram (bottom right) identifies the left–right precuneus pair as the strongest callosal connection. Tractography of the superior longitudinal fasciculi (top left), the corpus callosum (top right), and callosal isthmus linking left and right precuneus (bottom middle) illustrate major pathways supporting these patterns.
Among the UW-Madison contributors were the Waisman Center’s Andrew Alexander, PhD, Douglas Dean III, PhD, Nagesh Adluru, PhD, and Jose Guerrero-Gonzalez, PhD, performing structural and microstructural brain imaging analysis, and Lainhart.
After initial analysis of Dr. Grandin’s brain-imaging data and neurocognitive profile, the study research team found that the neuropsychological testing results backed up her experiences of thinking in pictures. She displayed superior visuospatial and visuomotor abilities, completing visual-based tests with speed, ease, and zero mistakes. In contrast, her language-based test scores were average and lacked the speed and deftness of the visual-based tests.
Overall, the structure of Dr. Grandin’s brain was remarkably normal appearing, including total brain volume, the gyral patterns on the surface of the brain, lobar volumes, and the size of hundreds of thousands of millimeter volumes of functional tissue throughout the brain. The structure and size of white matter tracts, which carry information from one part of the brain to another for brain connectivity and functional integration, also appeared normal. While the study team did find that there was distinct asymmetry between her left and right lateral ventricles, with the left being nearly double the size of the right, their volumes were within normal ranges. This could suggest differences in early neural development in the areas surrounding the left ventricle but it is hard to say as she has no childhood scans to compare to.
Interestingly, though, during her functional MRI scan, when the study team played her favorite song, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin, Dr. Grandin’s brain activated its visual network significantly more than its audio network. This suggests that, in the case of this song, she was processing the words and music as visual images.
“This case study exemplifies,” says Lainhart, “how cutting-edge imaging techniques, when paired with neuropsychological data, can deepen our understanding of neurodiversity and cognition in autistic adults. This case study also underscores that within autistic individuals, at any single point in time and across time, there is still so much we do not understand about differences in brain structure and function that underlie unique thinking, abilities, and challenges. Longitudinal studies across the lifespan are critically needed.”
These findings offer insight into how neurodiversity shapes cognition and behavior, especially in autistic adults. The case study is also the first of a series showing how advanced neuroimaging can provide unique insights that are potentially relevant to understanding variation in autism. Dr. Grandin’s drive to learn more about herself and how she processes the world continues to add valuable knowledge to the field of autism research.
“My understanding of Dr. Grandin’s intent in sharing her brain imaging and neuropsychological results is to also deepen scientific and public understanding of visual thinking in autistic individuals and others who process the world visually,” Lainhart says. “Dr. Grandin hopes this research will help all of us better understand visual thinking, and help educators, employers, and mentors recognize and more effectively support visual thinking children and adults, especially in ways that lead to improved education and employment opportunities.”
The ISLA team is currently enrolling autistic and non-autistic adults for a new research study looking at changes in well-being, physical and mental health, and aging across adulthood. We are enrolling adults, ranging in age from 20 years to over 70 years, for advanced brain imaging (when able), neuropsychological testing, and other assessments. The goal of the new research, which is a NIMH-funded Autism Centers of Excellence Program, is to learn what may improve health and well-being of autistic adults. This study takes place at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and the University of Florida in Gainesville.
For more information, please visit the ISLA website : www.isla-network.org, and for general eligibility criteria: www.isla-network.org/ace-project.
Contact the UW-Madison ISLA research team!
Phone: 608-265-1445
Email: isla@waisman.wisc.edu
Email disclosure: Email is generally not a secure way to communicate sensitive or health related information as there are many ways for unauthorized users to access email. You should avoid sending sensitive, detailed personal information by email.
“Research reported in this publication was supported by a pilot grant from the Brain Institute at the University of Utah (JEL) and by the National Institute Of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01MH080826 (JEL) and R01MH132218 (JEL, ALA, BAZ), and currently by RF1MH132218 (JEL, ALA, BAZ). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”
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