Going a bit down the ChatGPT rabbit hole, I decided to test the Scholar AI plug-in for ChatGPT 4.0. First, I wanted to see how it would respond without the plug-in to a “controversial” prompt. Here it it:
Create a response suggesting a reason for the link between autism and alexithymia.
Here’s the response:
Alexithymia, a condition characterized by difficulty in identifying and describing one's own emotions, is often found to be comorbid with autism. While the exact reason for this link is not definitively known, several theories have been proposed.
One theory suggests that both conditions may share common neurobiological mechanisms. For instance, both autism and alexithymia are associated with differences in the structure and function of certain brain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, which are involved in emotion processing and social cognition.
Another theory posits that the social communication difficulties inherent in autism may contribute to the development of alexithymia. Individuals with autism often struggle with understanding and expressing emotions, which could lead to alexithymia.
It's also possible that the link between autism and alexithymia is due to shared genetic factors. Both conditions have been found to have a genetic component, and it's possible that certain genes could increase the risk of both conditions.
However, these are just theories and more research is needed to fully understand the link between autism and alexithymia. It's also important to note that not everyone with autism experiences alexithymia, and the two conditions can occur independently of each other.
I then asked it to cite it’s sources. This triggered Scholar AI. Here’s the response:
Here are two research papers that discuss the link between autism and alexithymia:
1. ["Eye Gaze in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of Neural Evidence for the Eye Avoidance Hypothesis"](dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05443-z) - This paper discusses the neurobiological mechanisms that may contribute to the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The authors suggest that small genetic susceptibilities early in life can alter an infant's interaction with the environment, augmenting neural and behavioural differences, with a cascading influence on social development. The paper also discusses the role of eye gaze in the development of ASD and how differences in social attention, particularly attenuated eye gaze, are a reliable early predictor of ASD.
2. ["Coactivation of Autonomic and Central Nervous Systems During Processing of Socially Relevant Information in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review"](dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11065-023-09579-2) - This review paper discusses the interaction between the autonomic and central nervous systems in the processing of socially relevant information in ASD. The authors suggest that the characteristics of persons diagnosed with ASD may reflect altered ANS and CNS coupling during processing of sensory input, especially processing of socially relevant information. This assumption builds on the suggested role of ANS signalling in modulating initial perception of incoming stimuli and contributing to the cognitive top-down reappraisal of information flow also during social interaction.
These papers provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms that may contribute to the link between autism and alexithymia.
The resulting links were broken. I don’t think the script parsed out the code correctly. But I found the papers using Google Scholar. The corrected hyperlinks are part of this thread.
In all, I’m fairly happy with the new plug-in enabled GPT so far.
ChatGPT 4.0 + Scholar AI
ChatGPT 4.0 + Scholar AI
ChatGPT 4.0 + Scholar AI
Going a bit down the ChatGPT rabbit hole, I decided to test the Scholar AI plug-in for ChatGPT 4.0. First, I wanted to see how it would respond without the plug-in to a “controversial” prompt. Here it it:
Create a response suggesting a reason for the link between autism and alexithymia.
Here’s the response:
Alexithymia, a condition characterized by difficulty in identifying and describing one's own emotions, is often found to be comorbid with autism. While the exact reason for this link is not definitively known, several theories have been proposed.
One theory suggests that both conditions may share common neurobiological mechanisms. For instance, both autism and alexithymia are associated with differences in the structure and function of certain brain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, which are involved in emotion processing and social cognition.
Another theory posits that the social communication difficulties inherent in autism may contribute to the development of alexithymia. Individuals with autism often struggle with understanding and expressing emotions, which could lead to alexithymia.
It's also possible that the link between autism and alexithymia is due to shared genetic factors. Both conditions have been found to have a genetic component, and it's possible that certain genes could increase the risk of both conditions.
However, these are just theories and more research is needed to fully understand the link between autism and alexithymia. It's also important to note that not everyone with autism experiences alexithymia, and the two conditions can occur independently of each other.
I then asked it to cite it’s sources. This triggered Scholar AI. Here’s the response:
Here are two research papers that discuss the link between autism and alexithymia:
1. ["Eye Gaze in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of Neural Evidence for the Eye Avoidance Hypothesis"](dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05443-z) - This paper discusses the neurobiological mechanisms that may contribute to the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The authors suggest that small genetic susceptibilities early in life can alter an infant's interaction with the environment, augmenting neural and behavioural differences, with a cascading influence on social development. The paper also discusses the role of eye gaze in the development of ASD and how differences in social attention, particularly attenuated eye gaze, are a reliable early predictor of ASD.
2. ["Coactivation of Autonomic and Central Nervous Systems During Processing of Socially Relevant Information in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review"](dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11065-023-09579-2) - This review paper discusses the interaction between the autonomic and central nervous systems in the processing of socially relevant information in ASD. The authors suggest that the characteristics of persons diagnosed with ASD may reflect altered ANS and CNS coupling during processing of sensory input, especially processing of socially relevant information. This assumption builds on the suggested role of ANS signalling in modulating initial perception of incoming stimuli and contributing to the cognitive top-down reappraisal of information flow also during social interaction.
These papers provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms that may contribute to the link between autism and alexithymia.
The resulting links were broken. I don’t think the script parsed out the code correctly. But I found the papers using Google Scholar. The corrected hyperlinks are part of this thread.
In all, I’m fairly happy with the new plug-in enabled GPT so far.