Elsevier

Journal of Physiology-Paris

Volume 107, Issue 4, September 2013, Pages 298-309
Journal of Physiology-Paris

Biological and psychological rhythms: An integrative approach to rhythm disturbances in autistic disorder

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2013.03.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Biological rhythms are crucial phenomena that are perfect examples of the adaptation of organisms to their environment. A considerable amount of work has described different types of biological rhythms (from circadian to ultradian), individual differences in their patterns and the complexity of their regulation. In particular, the regulation and maturation of the sleep–wake cycle have been thoroughly studied. Its desynchronization, both endogenous and exogenous, is now well understood, as are its consequences for cognitive impairments and health problems. From a completely different perspective, psychoanalysts have shown a growing interest in the rhythms of psychic life. This interest extends beyond the original focus of psychoanalysis on dreams and the sleep–wake cycle, incorporating central theoretical and practical psychoanalytic issues related to the core functioning of the psychic life: the rhythmic structures of drive dynamics, intersubjective developmental processes and psychic containment functions. Psychopathological and biological approaches to the study of infantile autism reveal the importance of specific biological and psychological rhythmic disturbances in this disorder. Considering data and hypotheses from both perspectives, this paper proposes an integrative approach to the study of these rhythmic disturbances and offers an etiopathogenic hypothesis based on this integrative approach.

Introduction

Biological rhythms are perfect examples of the adaptation of organisms to their environments. The endogenous variations in physiological activity reflect adaptations to sequences of the regularly changing conditions of geophysical cycles, such as tides, the lunar cycle, the day–night cycle and seasons. Biological rhythms can be understood as an organism’s incorporation of a time program that allows it to be prepared for changes in the environment. From a phylogenetic perspective, biological rhythms reflect a very old heritage; some traces of these rhythms can be found in invertebrate species. The periodicity of activities applies to all biological, physiological and psychological functions. Recently, the science of biological rhythms, chronobiology, has emerged with its own theory and methods, with considerable implications for medicine, psychiatry, pharmacology, sleep science, education, industry and transportation.

The essential theoretical assumptions of psychoanalysis propose a central role of rhythmicity in the functioning of the psychic apparatus, particularly in Freudian and post-Freudian works on the drives, the birth of thought, the development of intersubjectivity and the function of the therapeutic framework.

Starting with an overview of the basic characteristics of biological rhythms and the main psychoanalytical conceptions of rhythmicity, this paper proposes to reconcile the data obtained from each of these two heterogeneous perspectives and to apply this integrative approach to the study of infantile autism.

Section snippets

Definition

Over the last 50 years, a considerable amount of research has been conducted in an effort to understand the properties and implications of biological rhythms. Chronobiology has paved the way for several new fields of research in psychology (chronopsychology), medicine (chronotherapy) and pharmacology (chronopharmacology). The resulting research has implications both for basic knowledge and for industrial applications (e.g., night and shift work).

Biological rhythms comprise three families of

Overview of psychoanalytical perspective on rhythms

This review shows that rhythms are of paramount importance in the biological approach to adaptation to the environment. In contrast, rhythms and rhythmicity do not seem to be a major psychoanalytical topic. For example, a bibliographical search in the library catalogs of the French and British psychoanalytic institutes shows that Freud and his immediate followers did not directly address these concepts. However, references to rhythms are found in several more recent works dealing with crucial

Psychopathological perspectives on rhythm disturbances in autistic disorder

Beyond the diagnostic criteria in the main current classifications (ICD 10 by the World Health Organization, 1993, DSM-IV by the American Psychiatric Association, 1994 and the French Classification of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders, CFTMEA, Mises et al., 2002), autism and pervasive developmental disorders are viewed by many clinicians as associated with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID) (Ayres, 1980, Haag et al., 2010). From a psychodynamic point of view, the intrapsychic counterpart

Conclusions

Biological rhythms are a crucial phenomenon providing a rhythmic structure to many biological processes. From a completely different perspective, psychoanalysis shows how rhythms are also important in the central processes of psychic functioning. However, data from these two heterogeneous perspectives remain to be integrated.

Biological and psychic rhythm disturbances have been described in various psychiatric disorders. Many clinical and scientific observations show that these disturbances are

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