LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Sally J. Rogers, Ph.D., an internationally renown neuroscientist who has conducted pioneering research in pinpointing the causes and potential treatments for autism, was featured in The Saban Distinguished Lecturer Series at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Friday, April 11, 2008.
Dr. Rogers, a developmental psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis, and a member of the research faculty at its M.I.N.D. Institute, presented, "Imitation in Autism: Findings and Mechanisms." She discussed how autism affects the ability of children to imitate the actions of others and how their imitative skills may be improved.
Dr. Rogers' research has focused on why autistic humans tend to not engage in imitative behavior, which is the cornerstone of learning. Initial research had suggested that autistics' lack of bonding skills may be the primary factor.
"We copy people we admire," Dr. Rogers says. "We copy people we like. If children are imitating someone else, they're often connected in other ways as well, there is something interpersonal."
However, subsequent research demonstrated that autism disrupts how portions of the brain communicate with one another. The so-called "mirror neurons" -- which are highly interconnected with other parts of the brain in order to encourage the complex mechanisms behind imitative behavior -- tend to be greatly impacted by the disorder.
"There is evidence that people with autism don't have that rich set of networks," says Dr. Rogers.
Dr. Rogers' most recent research has been in finding ways to encourage autistic children to be imitative. Children with the disorder had first been directly encouraged to imitate by rewarding them for such behavior.
New studies by Dr. Rogers and others have led to the development of the "Early Start Denver Model," which encourages imitation by playing with an object in a particular way in front of an autistic child that would stimulate them to want to play with it in a similar manner.
Dr. Rogers recently received a $15.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how such intensive interventions can help autistic children in their development.
Dr. Rogers also has studied how autistic children observe others in action. Her research has indicated that while autistic children tend to "scan" action models, as do children without the disorder, they focus far less on the other subject's face.
"We are studying the face and body link," Dr. Rogers says, "in an attempt to determine what role observing the face of an action model plays in successfully imitating their behavior."
Dr. Rogers received a bachelor's degree from Ashland College and a master's degree from The Ohio State University.
Since earning her doctorate from Ohio State in 1975, Dr. Rogers has focused almost exclusively on early childhood development. She has authored numerous articles and books on childhood development, and co-authored Imitation and the Social Mind: Autism and Typical Development in 2006. Dr. Rogers serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders; Topics in Early Childhood Special Education; and Infants and Young Children.
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. It is a national leader in pediatric research.
Investigators at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles are working to create a world in which all children are healthy -- a world in which they are no longer threatened by such diseases as cancer, congenital heart defects, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, epilepsy, immune deficiencies and respiratory disorders. They ask basic questions about human biology, find new ways to see inside the body, explore genetic mysteries, develop promising drug treatments and test preventive strategies -- scientific inquiries that benefit both children and adults. The Saban Research Institute is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States, with 102 investigators at work on 261 laboratory studies, clinical trials and community-based research and health services. It is one of the few freestanding research centers in the nation to combine scientific laboratory inquiry with patient clinical care -- dedicated exclusively to children -- and its base of knowledge is widely considered to be among the best in pediatric medicine.
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