Autism in Another Ape
An extraordinary baby bonobo is a rare case study for autism researchers.
Rambunctious one-year-old Teco, a third-generation captive-born bonobo at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa, has an ape’s usual fondness for games and grapes.
But perhaps because of trauma from a difficult birth (his mother was in labor for 60 hours) or a genetic predisposition, Teco is different from his bonobo peers in ways that resemble autism in young children.
He did not cling to his mother or nurse the way healthy young apes do instinctively, mimicking the aversion to physical contact seen in children with autism. Teco also tends to fixate on shiny objects and avoids eye contact, and he has trouble coordinating his four limbs.
A genetic analysis of bonobos, already under way, may shed light on Teco’s condition and offer new perspectives on autism’s genetic roots in humans.
From Great Ape Trust Media Centre
Teco likes technology. The newest member of bonobo language research has been introduced to something quite different from previous generations. Teco, born on June 1 at Great Ape Trust, has shown a keen interest in children's applications on an iPad.
Great Ape Trust scientist, Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh introduced Teco to several iPad apps earlier this month. He not only views the programs but tries to manipulate the programs with his hands. Savage-Rumbaugh, a pioneer of language research with bonobos, said she's never seen such development in a bonobo that young.
Scientists at Great Ape Trust are confident that Teco could play an important role in ape language studies at the Des Moines-based research facility. Teco is the son of Kanzi and Elikya and is a third-generation bonobo to be reared in Great Ape Trust’s hallmark Pan/Homo (Pan paniscus/Homo sapiens) environment, Teco is a portent for the future of ape language research, a 40-year body of work by Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh; her mentor Dr. Duane Rumbaugh and Great Ape Trust Scientific Director, William M. Fields.
Teco had trouble bonding with his mother, who turned him over to an aunt, who reportedly passed the baby on to the human caretakers at the Iowa Great Apes Trust. That's when they began to notice that he also showed various autism-like symptoms: lack of eye contact, strict adherence to rituals or routines, repetitive behaviors, and an interest in objects rather than in social contact. A blanket, for example, has to be arranged just so or else Teco becomes agitated, says scientific director William Fields. Teco also shows repetitive movements similar to those seen in some children with autism.
"He seemed to be fascinated by parts of objects, like wheels and other things, and he wasn't developing joint attention," Fields adds. "The baby was avoiding eye contact -- it was like it was painful for him.”
In people, differences in eye movements and eye contact are early signs of autism. According to Fields, who has studied the apes for more than a decade, eye contact is even more important to social communication in bonobos than it is in humans.
This month, another group of researchers reported that bonobos have more developed neural circuitry than do chimpanzees in parts of the brain involved in emotion and empathy. These brain regions, such as the amygdala, the hypothalamus and the prefrontal cortex, are also areas that show differences in people with autism. The work provides a kind of mirror image to Teco's story: If the structure of the social brain is similar in humans and bonobos, perhaps it's not so surprising that social abnormalities can look similar in the two species as well.
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