Central coherence theory: what it is and how it explains autism

At every moment we receive an unimaginable amount of stimuli from the environment that our brain is in charge of processing.

But, how is it possible to deal with this huge amount of information, integrating it almost instantaneously? Part of this merit is central coherence theory, a concept that we are going to explore in depth in the following lines.

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What is central coherence theory?

To talk about the theory of central coherence we must go back to the year 1989, which was when the psychologist Uta Frith, from University College London, coined this concept. According to Frith, our brain always looks for a line of coherence in all the stimuli it picks up from the environment through all the senses, to be able to integrate and group them quickly.

In this way, all the information with which we are bombarded at every moment is shaped, creating sets of stimuli that have been accessed by different routes (sight, hearing, etc.) and are automatically grouped

to establish the coherence we need to be able to understand the reality that takes place around us and that we perceive at all times.

Imagine for a moment how chaotic it would be if we were not able to interpret that what our sight, our hearing or our eyes perceives our touch, at a given moment, is part of the same stimulus, and we could not establish a connection between all that information. This occurs in some individuals, in those affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders, and that's what Dr. Frith focused her research on. We will see it in the next point.

Weak central coherence theory

What Uta Frith discovered is that people with autism find it difficult to apply this mechanismTherefore, for these individuals, what she called the theory of weak central coherence would apply.

That is, part of the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders could be explained because these people do not would have the ability (or it would be less) to automatically associate the perceived stimuli to adapt them to patterns common.

This phenomenon often makes people with autism tend to focus their attention on very specific details of reality and not on the whole of the elements that make it up. This has the drawbacks that we have already seen, but in return it can generate a surprising effect, and it is an unthinkable ability in other individuals to process specific details.

Let's remember the famous scene from the movie Rain Man, in which the character played by Dustin Hoffman, a man with a type of autism, sees how to the waitress at the restaurant where she is, drops a box of chopsticks, scattering all over the I usually. She automatically knows that there are two hundred and forty-six, which added to the four that have not fallen, complete the two hundred and fifty that were originally.

In this example we can clearly see an example of weak central coherence theory, which instead of grouping stimuli into Sets allow the person who suffers it to focus on very specific details, such as the number of chopsticks on the floor, in this case. A person who does not suffer from this pathology, unless he has a highly developed capacity, would have to have counted the chopsticks one by one to know the exact amount there were.

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Concept review

However, subsequent studies by the psychologist Francesca Happé and Uta Frith herself, in 2006, changed the original vision of the concept of weak central coherence theory, exposed 15 years before. This review resulted in three important changes, which are reflected in three new hypotheses in this regard. We are going to review each one of them to find out what these proposed changes consist of.

1. Superiority in local processing

The first of the hypotheses refers to a supposed superiority that would be occurring in local processing (those of concrete details) as opposed to central processing. That is, the vision would change the deficit that was believed to exist in the general processing, replacing it with a superiority in the processes of local elements, so the perspective of the original question would be changing.

2. Cognitive bias

On the other hand, the new revision of the central coherence theory, in this case weak, affirms that the people with autism is not that they are unable to perform a global processing of reality, but what have a cognitive bias that makes them have a predisposition to use local processing more frequently and therefore they tend to focus on very specific details and not on sets of stimuli.

3. Social difficulties

The third change in perspective has to do with the difficulties in social interactions that subjects with ASD often experience, and is that the first vision of the theory weak central coherence put this as the cause of these problems in interaction with peers, while the new perspective what it does is present this behavior What one more feature of cognition within people with autism.

Other visions

But that is not the only revision that the theory of central coherence has undergone. In 2010, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, who specializes in the study of autism, updated the vision of this concept, adapting it to the new research carried out. In that sense, the most novel modification was relate the theory of central coherence to that of connectivity.

What this theory refers to is that individuals with autism spectrum disorders would have what is known as short-range rather than long-range hyperconnectivity. What does this translate to? In which these people have more neural networks dedicated to local, close connections.

Another concept that he introduces is that of sensory hypersensitivity, which would explain why some people with autism they have so developed the ability to find and analyze certain stimuli visually. Here the example of Rain Man and the chopsticks that we saw at the beginning would fit perfectly. By having that sensory hypersensitivity and that abundance of neural connections, the individual can, at a glance, tell the exact number of chopsticks there are.

Baron-Cohen's is not the only view different from Frith's. We would also find, for example, the works of Peter Hobson, who brings a different point of view to the theory of central coherence regarding the social relations capacities of people with spectrum disorders autistic.

According to Hobson, as a general rule, all people are born with the ability to interact with our peers in an emotional way. However, subjects with autism would be born without this ability, which would cause them the difficulties in relating that we had already mentioned. What would be failing is an action-reaction process in which all affective human interactions are simplified.

By not having said mechanism, a chain would start that would make it difficult for the subject, as a child, to properly recognize the emotions and intentions of others, which that would make him lack a vital training to have correct social skills as an adult that allow him to relate fluently with the rest of the individuals. It must be clear that these assertions are part of Hobson's theory, and there are other points of view that diverge from them.

In conclusion

We have already explored the origins of central coherence theory, especially the one that is known as weak, as well as its different reviews and other related theories and even confronted with it.

The bottom line is that this theory allows us to understand in more detail some of the behavioral characteristics of individuals with autism, which is tremendously useful for all those who work or live with people belonging to this group.

Nevertheless, It is a field in constant development, new articles are constantly being published about autism spectrum disorders mentioned by this and other theories, so we must stay up-to-date with the studies that are carried out each year to always be up to date with the most contrasted ideas that best explain processes as delicate and as important as the ones we have been seeing throughout this Article.

Bibliographic references:

• Baron-Cohen, S., Chaparro, S. (2010). Autism and Asperger's syndrome. Editorial Alliance.
• Frith, U. (1989). A new look at language and communication in autism. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders.
• Happé, F., Frith, U. (2006). The Weak Coherence Account: Detail-focused Cognitive Style in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
• López, B., Leekam, S.R. (2007). Central coherence theory: a review of the theoretical assumptions. Childhood and learning. Taylor & Francis.