Introduction

In this chapter it is argued that the socioemotional and memory profiles in autism may be consistent with an abnormality in two systems both of which involve an interaction between the limbic system and the medial prefrontal cortex. The first system, which is probably critical for a diagnosis of autism, includes the pathway from the amygdala to the medial prefrontal cortex. This system is involved in the generation of basic and complex feelings, and in the successful performance of theory of mind tasks. The other system is the one including the pathway from the hippocampus to the medial prefrontal cortex (including the medial orbital prefrontal cortex). This system is arguably necessary for episodic memory. It is also perhaps involved in some of the ‘coherence’ impaired in ‘weak coherence’. In the case of both of these systems, it is suggested that autism involves an impairment in the interaction between the limbic system and the medial prefrontal cortex.

The chapter is organized as follows. First there is a brief review of findings on memory in autism, using Tulving's (1995) analysis of different memory systems as a framework (for a fuller review, see Ben Shalom, 2003). This brief review focuses in particular on the episodic memory impairment in autism, and its likely brain bases. There follows a detailed account of what is known about emotion processing in autism, and the likely brain bases of the processing of emotions and feelings.