Neuropsychological frameworks for understanding autism

Neuropsychological theories have traditionally attempted to provide a unify ing account of the complex and diverse behavioural manifestations of autism in terms of their underlying psychological mechanisms and associated brain bases. This article reviews three competing neuropsychological theories of autism: the executive dysfunction hypothesis, the weak central coherence h ypothesis, and the limbic system hypothesis. Each theory is evaluated criti cally with regard to the primary neuropsychological deficit hypothesized an d the research findings that have been offered in support of it. In a concl uding section, some of the metatheoretical assumptions informing attempts t o identify a 'core' neuropsychological impairment in autism are outlined an d questioned and new approaches to a neuropsychological understanding of au tism are suggested.