Intuition in autistic savantism: A hypothetical model based on glial–neuronal interactions

Abstract

The previously proposed hypothesis on the astrocyte mega-domains of autistic savantism is here further elaborated with regard to the faculty of intuition. Two mechanisms may essentially be responsible for the intuition of autistic savantism. First, the increased number of contacted synapses via the astrocyte processes enables the brain to generate a comprehensive perception of a scene in the environment. Second, to inhibit a further reflection process neuronal synapses responsible for pertinent information must be rejected by retraction of the same astrocyte processes. This second mechanism may exert the disconnections of neuronal systems and is experimentally verified. Therefore, the break-off of further social contacts may also be necessary. The testing of the hypothesis in living brains is difficult but at least partly possible in post-mortem brains.