Laurent Mottron Laboratory

My research group explores how autistic people process information from early development through adulthood. We are therefore interested in describing the perceptual, memory and reasoning mechanisms by which autistic people perceive the world, construct representations and manipulate them. Our ultimate goal is to facilitate the integration of autistic people into society whatever their age, whilst respecting their differences.

November 2023

The meeting of the top international researchers in the field of autism will take place at the Child Development and Behavior Center of the Third Hospital of Zhongshan in China from November 9 to 11, 2023.

A large-scale collaboration on multiple projects from our group is underway with the Child Development and Behavior Center of the Third Hospital of Zhongshan.

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lXZCNhC0XVhTqxk63LdVIw

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lXZCNhC0XVhTqxk63LdVIw?poc_token=HIzlV2WjFE_mdofigCDSW_Fjt9PJk0eB9wph3WEX

May 2023

Prototypical autism: New diagnostic criteria and asymmetrical bifurcation model

Article from Laurent Mottron and David Gagnon in Acta Psychologica

The current formulation of the "autism spectrum" generates considerable diagnostic heterogeneity, which can hinder intervention and the advancement of basic research. In this article, we propose new diagnostic criteria for "prototypical" autism between the ages of 2 and 5.
In our reformulation work, we suggest a new conception of autism, in which we propose that it is a human possibility arising from a developmental bifurcation. Prototypical autism would follow a developmental trajectory marked by a progressive decline in social biases, starting at the end of the 1st year, then bifurcate towards a prototypical autistic presentation in the second half of the 2nd year of life. The integration of autism into asymmetrical developmental bifurcations would explain the absence of deleterious neurological and genetic markers, and the presence of familial transmission in canonical autistic presentations.



May 2023

Le titre de fellow, l’une des plus hautes distinctions décernées par la Société internationale de recherche sur l’autisme (INSAR), revient au Dr Laurent Mottron. 

Sommité reconnue à l’international pour ses travaux de recherche portant sur l’autisme… https://medecine.umontreal.ca/2023/04/19/laurent-mottron-recoit-le-titre-de-fellow-2023-de-linsar/

March 2023

World Autism Day Events | The 2nd Autism Brain Science Forum hosted by the Sixth Hospital of Peking University

Virtual conference in English by Laurent Mottron

Prototypical Autism: new criteria and the asymmetrical bifurcation model.

Friday, March 24, 8:10 am to 8:50 am (date and time of Montreal)

Zoom link to the conference : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5544050961?pwd=Y08rNlJXOXNvN1djeGZ6Y3I4dVdZdz09

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ARRkZajlyLQNjiHwJg5UAQ

Archived news

For archived news, click here !  

This website features the work of autistic artists!

Drawings by Denis Boudouard (EC in the scientific literature)

EC was an autistic man who passed away in the 1990s, and possessed the ability to draw inanimate objects in 3D. His drawings were almost always done on A4 paper using black fine felt-tip or ballpoint pens, with little color. Without using a ruler, or ever needing to touch up his work, EC was able to trace perfect lines, circles and ellipses. He was also able to draw an object as it rotated through space, without needing to manipulate or walk around the object. Motors, explosions and angry women were recurrent themes in EC’s work. A project looking into his exceptional skills (Mottron & Belleville, 1993, 1995) lay the groundwork for models of perceptual “overfunctioning” in autism.

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