How the Brain Gets Stuck and How to Help It Flex | Dr. Lucina Uddin #229

What's actually happening in the brain when an autistic individual struggles to shift gears, adapt to change, or break out of a repetitive thought pattern? This week, host Jeffrey Skibitsky sits down with Dr. Lucina Uddin, neuroscientist and director of the Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory at UCLA, to explore one of the most important and least-discussed topics in autism research: cognitive flexibility.

Dr. Uddin breaks down how brain networks switch between internal thinking and external awareness, what happens when that switching system gets overloaded, and why some autistic individuals get stuck in a loop even when they have every skill needed to problem-solve in calmer moments.

She also shares a surprising research finding: bilingual children with autism showed stronger inhibitory skills than their monolingual peers, suggesting that natural language exposure at home may support cognitive flexibility in ways families can start building today.

Resources:

Lucina Q. Uddin, Ph.D. (she/her)

Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

Professor, Department of Psychology

Director, Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory

Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Analysis Core

Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior

University of California Los Angeles

 

Dr. Uddin's lab at UCLA is currently recruiting children ages 8 to 12 with an autism diagnosis for a paid brain study on bilingualism and cognitive flexibility. Families can earn up to $300 for participating. To learn more or sign up, contact uclabccl@gmail.com or call 323-609-5866. 

In this episode:

• What cognitive flexibility is and why it matters for autistic individuals and their families
• The brain networks behind flexible thinking: default mode, salience, and executive systems
• Why anxiety and stress can shut down problem-solving even in high-ability individuals
• What neuroimaging reveals about brain differences in autism and where the science is headed
• The bilingual advantage: what Dr. Uddin's lab discovered and what it means for parents
• How early brain markers visible at six weeks old can predict later social development
• The shift toward precision psychiatry and individualized treatment

Whether you're a parent, clinician, or educator, this episode gives you a new lens for understanding why flexibility can be hard and concrete reasons for hope.

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