Did the Alteration of Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis (ASD) in the DSM-5 from DSM-IV-TR Influenced Researchers Results of the Mirror Neuron System activation in the Autistic Brain?

Several researchers investigating the function of the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) have indicated research results that either supports the function of the MNS or oppose it. This inconsistency of results has the potential of delaying the benefit of settling the issue that may lead scientists into a further understanding of the way the autistic brain function.  While most recent research groups have passed the argument of whether or not these neurons are dysfunction in the autistic brain, trying to find the impact of the MNS atypical activation on the autistic behaviors, other researchers are still indicating that there is no atypical MNS Activation in the autistic brain.

The 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced new diagnostics subcategories of Autism Spectrum Disorder to abolish the diagnostics of the DSM-IV-TR. However, past research projects conducted before the DSM-5 selected its target subjects based on the DSM-IV-Text. This may have led into falsified and misleading results, and maybe the reason for the inconstancy between the research results. In this paper, l will analyze the research projects  (investigated the MNS activation in the autistic brain), conducted before the DSM-5 was published, and compare it to the research projects conducted after the DSM-5 was published. Not finding a difference between the results, even after the diagnosis had changed, will contribute to an understanding of the reason behind the inconsistent research results which is the absence of an accurate diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The purpose of this research is to investigate if the research results of the MNS activation in the autistic brain changed after the DSM-5 was published. That is as a consequence of the alteration in the diagnosis and so the sampling process of these research projects. I hypothesize that the results of the MNS activation in the autistic brain research projects changed after the DSM-5 was published. That is as the DSM-5 provided more accurate diagnosis criteria, and so led to accurate sampling processes.

Considering the differences between the diagnosis in DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5, I will analyze eight research projects, four of these research projects were conducted before the DSM-5 publication, while the other four were conducted after the DSM-5 publication. I have all the research papers needed for the before the DSM-5 analysis, but I need two more research for the after DSM-5 analysis. I plan on finding the two research papers before the weekend and spend the weekend writing the draft and conducting data analysis. All the research projects are using the same severity level based on the edition of the period in which the research was conducted. If there were no differences between the results conducted before and after the DSM-5, and if the inconsistency between the results stayed the same, then the inconsistent results may be as a consequence of the sampling difficulty that is taking place because of the inaccurate diagnosis of both DSM-5 and DSM-IV-TR. I will use APA citation format.

 The Bibliography:

In a case report, A. Posar et al. (2015) described two cases of two 7 years old males. Based on DSM-5 both cases are diagnosed with ASD severity level 1. On the other hand, based on DSM-IV-Text, case 1 is diagnosed with high Asperger’s disorder, while case 2 is diagnosed with extremely low Asperger disorder. This report argues that DSM-IV-Text has a more accurate diagnosis than DSM-5, suggesting that DSM-5 diagnosed ASD with a broader aspect that led to categorizing both cases in the same level of severity while they exhibit different symptoms. Despite the similarity between both cases in the tension they show when changes occur around them and their communication impairment, case 1 has no intellectual impairment but difficulty in perceiving spatial relationship between objects. Case 2, however, demonstrates an intellectual delay but no spatial perception difficulty (A. Posar, 2015). This indication conveys that current research projects may be basing their sampling process on an inaccurate diagnosis of ASD. This may have led to exaggerated or falsified results causing the inconsistency between research projects results.

A research group analyzed the DSM-5 diagnosis effect on samples from research projects conducted before the edition was published found that part of past research has sampling percentages that, based on DSM-5, are no more diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or the level of severity targeted in the research. This paper was based on the idea that DSM-5 bases its diagnosis on social impairment, not repetitive behaviors, which may be the reason that past research subjects do not fall under ASD diagnosis. However, it was marked through this research that variations between the research projects conducted before DSM-5 are depicted through the participants’ IQ scores. Most diagnosis changes occur when the participants have an IQ that is greater than 70. (Isaac C et al 2015) Through this research analysis, it is notable that any research project conducted before the DSM-5, has a sample with High Functioning Autism, and its participants have an IQ greater than 70 may not be valid to measure the MNS activation in the autistic brain. That is because its subjects are no more diagnosed with ASD. On the other hand, any current research that is basing its experiment on research findings conducted before DSM-5 was published is building on inaccurate information. These information are formed by research projects conducted on subjects that are not diagnosed with ASD.

Both of the mentioned research will be used as background information that will lead to the discussion of analyzing the results of past and current research projects. I understood the first mentioned source because it was easier to read. However, the second source was difficult to understand because it included the history of other DSM editions of which I am not aware of, while referring to these edition impact on the ASD diagnosis.

1. Posar, F. Resca, P. Visconti, Autism according to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 5(th) edition: the need for further improvements, J. Pediatr. Neurosci. 10 (2) (2015) 146–148

Smith, I. C., Reichow, B. & Volkmar, F.R. J. (2015).The Effects of DSM-5 Criteria on Number of Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 45(8), 2541–2552.

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