Journal: Autistic brains may daydream less

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego published a study recently claiming that people with autism may lack the ability to daydream normally like those without the condition. From the article: In healthy people, these spots become active when the brain is resting -- and dampen down when the brain is working hard at a mental puzzle, the researchers confirmed. They also showed that part of the network revs up when participants read emotional words, such as 'murder' or 'blood', compared with bland ones such as 'table'. But the brains of autistic patients revealed a different picture. Their daydreaming network seemed permanently dampened; it did not show increased activity during rest and was not roused by emotional words.