Last week on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, host Terry Gross interviewed a Harvard neurologist who is studying autism-spectrum disorders, and one of his subjects, John Elder Robison, who wrote a book about his experience.
In a nutshell, the experiment involved stimulating specific areas of the brain with magnetic energy. The resulting electrical currents would either enhance or inhibit certain brain circuits.
People with autism-spectrum disorders often have difficulty understanding the point of view or state of mind of others. One manifestation of this is an inability to recognize other people’s emotions.