Simon Baron-Cohen: Biography Of This Psychologist And Researcher
The field of autism has been studied for many years, as it is an increasingly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder. One of its greatest researchers is Simon Baron-Cohen, British psychologist, author and co-author of theories such as “The Theory of Mind” and “The Autistic Male Brain.”
In this article We will see through a biography of Simon Baron-Cohen who this psychologist is what is his career and what has he discovered in relation to this complex and interesting disorder.
Simon Baron-Cohen is a British psychologist, doctor in Psychology, who was born on August 15, 1958 in London (England). He also currently works as Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, at the University of Cambridge; specifically, in the Department of Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology.
Also, Simon Baron-Cohen He is also dedicated to researching neurodevelopmental disorders (such as autism), and is Director of the Autism Research Center (Autism Research Center – ARC), as well as a member of Trinity College (University of Cambridge).
Regarding his training, the psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen completed a master’s degree in Human Sciences from New College Oxford, as well as a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London.
Subsequently, he completed a PhD in Psychology at University College London. The supervisor of her Doctoral Thesis was Uta Frith, a prominent developmental psychologist, also an expert in autism.
Technology and special education
Before delving into the famous theories of Simon Baron-Cohen, we will explain that this psychologist has also been interested in new technologies and their use in disorders such as autism.
Thus, Baron-Cohen developed software intended for children with learning difficulties or neurodevelopmental disorders (i.e., a special education program), called “Mindreading.” In addition, she also designed an animated series to teach how to recognize and understand emotions, aimed at children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Baron-Cohen’s Theories of Autism
Thus, Simon Baron-Cohen has worked a lot in the field of autism (also in his research). In fact, Baron-Cohen developed various theories about autism. The first of his theories speaks of a certain “mental blindness” characteristic of autism, mental blindness being understood as certain delays in the development of the theory of mind.
1. Theory of Mind (TdM)
Theory of mind (TdM), developed by Simon-Baron Cohen, Uta Frith and Alan Leslie in 1985, attempts to explain the communication deficits present in autism, as well as deficits in social interaction. Furthermore, this theory forms the first diagnostic criterion for the autism disorder in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders).
What is Theory of Mind (TdM)? This is the ability that people without autism or another disorder (that is, “neurotypical” people) have to represent the mental states of others , in his own mind. That is, it implies understanding that others have different states, and that these may be different from ours.
This capacity usually appears in the early stages of child development, and is consolidated around 4 or 5 years of age (by 7 years of age, practically all children have it developed). ToM helps us capture the social signals in our environment and interpret them In people with autism, this capacity is altered (it is deficient), and may not even exist (although there are also degrees). However, luckily it is a capacity that can be worked on.
Subsequent to this theory, Simon Baron-Cohen also postulates another one: through it he maintains that autism consists of an extreme form of “male brain.” This theory is called “Male Brain Theory” or “Empathy-Systematization Theory.”
This theory maintains that there are “two main types of brains”, male and female Males have the ability to systematize, recognize and analyze patterns, and females show greater ease in empathy and better attuning to the emotional state of others.
Thus, according to the Male Brain Theory, people with autism have a more masculine brain (in fact, extremely masculine), since Your systematization skills are extremely developed (versus the more emotional empathy skills).
It was at the end of the ’90s when Simon Baron-Cohen developed this hypothesis. This hypothesis sought to explain the differences between the two sexes, and analyzed them from a neurobiological and psychological point of view.
Research in Autism
One of Simon Baron-Cohen’s most notable investigations is the one in which he shows that Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a certain delay in the development of Theory of Mind (TdM), previously described. In fact, this research we are talking about was the first study carried out in relation to this topic, and Simon Baron-Cohen was co-author of it.
Baron-Cohen continued to research this topic, and ended up publishing two anthologies, titled “Understanding Other Minds” (1993 and 2000).
Other aspects that this author, together with his work team, analyzed were joint attention (or shared attention) of children with ASD Let us remember that joint attention is the ability to share the focus of our attention towards an object or activity, together with another person, at a precise moment.
Thus, the studies by Simon Baron-Cohen and his research team related this ability to the deficit in the Theory of Mind of children with autism, postulating that said deficit has its origin in the absence of attention. joint. Specifically, they suggested that its absence at 18 months was one of the indicators of later autism
The autistic brain
As we see, Simon Baron-Cohen has focused on studying the mind and brain of people with autism. Some of his studies suggest that there are certain differences in autistic brains compared to the brains of people without autism.
These differences lie mainly in two brain structures: the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex In fact, in relation to these findings, Baron-Cohen proposed another of his theories; This one in particular is called the “amygdala theory of autism.”
Right temporoparietal junction
One of Simon Baron-Cohen’s findings in relation to the autistic brain was in 2011, when he demonstrated (together with his colleague Michael Lombardo) that a specific brain structure, the right temporoparietal junction, remained underactivated (in the brains of children/ autistic people) during tasks that allowed them to study the Theory of Mind.
Furthermore, the differences found in this brain structure were also related to variations in the social deficit of these children.
