Friday, 15 April 2011
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New Autism Research May Lead To Autism Cure
I was lucky to be able to spend some time on the phone with Dr. Manuel F. Casanova, Associate Chair of Research at the University of Louisville. They have been conducting some promising research that will have a direct impact on how we view and treat autism. Dr. Casanova did his best to explain some of it to me in terms that I could understand.
One study has shown that individuals with autism have a defect in the basic building blocks of the cortex, a structure called minicolumns. This defect manifest itself as cortical hyperexcitability and could provide an explanation to the seizures observed in some autistic patients. Another study has shown that the prefrontal lobes of autistic individual are usually active regardless of activating stimuli. This area of the brain provides for what has been called a “sketch pad memory.” This type of memory organizes plans of actions into different steps. The findings could explain why autistic individually have a strong need to follow an exact schedule, and deviations from the same may cause tantrums. Another study shows that autistic individuals have an abnormality in higher brain frequencies. These frequencies are used to flag down different areas of the brain as they work together. This may help explain why it is difficult for autistic individuals to recognize a face, e.g., they are unable to integrate disparate areas of the brain as they process information related to color of the eyes, symmetry of the face, emotional significance of a smile, etc.
They have not just identified neurological reasons for an individual to have autism, they are also working on what may have caused the neurological abnormalities and treatments for them. One area of concern that they are researching is the use of ultrasounds during pregnancy. The hypothesis is that ultrasounds can have an affect on the brain, so ultrasound(s) administered during pregnancy can affect the brain of your unborn child. The University of Louisville will be conducting experiments and surveys in this area.
The University of Louisville is conducting research on treating autism with magnetic stimulation. To sum it up, they believe that by targeting one area of abnormality, and correcting it, the other areas will correct themselves. They are having positive results in these tests and have already published the same in three referred articles.
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- From: autismlearningfelt
- About Me: I am a WAHM, with two children. My daughter is 5 and my son is 10. My 10 year old son is diagnosed with Autism. I have a home-based business, www.learningfelt.com . Great creative and fun activities with felt for children. This blog is for sharing my experiences raising my son, product reviews, giveaways and sharing whatever items I find and want to share with all my readers. Read more at my blog: http://www.autismlearningfelt.com/
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Comments (5)
Very interesting information.
I have another hypothesis/idea to add to that: diagnosis of autism and spectrum disorders have increased in the last few decades; in that same time frame the use of epidurals and pictocin during pregnancy has also dramatically increased. Could there be a correlation? There's already one between older mothers and diagnosed children, as well as another one -that has been out for less time- regarding the time span between pregnancies (a year or less) and the likelihood of the second child being diagnosed.
There are soooo many factors that could be contributing to children being "damaged."
I don't think autism is a disorder, I think its a collection of them and there maybe many causes, but to find any one of them would be wonderful.
@mybodyx@xanga - the one between older mothers and autism has nothing to do with medications or things that are used. when a female is born, she is born with all her eggs. as she ages, these eggs in her ovary also age; this aging can cause damage in the DNA and autism-spectrum disorders (among others). as mothers live longer and are in better economic situations later in life, pregnancies in these older ages increase and thus the diagnosis of autism does also.
you also often see this pattern of quick-succession births in older moms because they tend to feel like they are racing the clock to give birth to their children in time to raise them well. so really this study may not be showing anything new but a social reflection of the first fact.
correlation isn't causation! please don't be so quick to say well this happened, so autism happened.
@haltija@xanga - this is especially true of older mothers, but there is a recent study that links short time between pregnancies/births to increased risk of defect/disorder of the second child, no matter the mother's age (its a separate theory). I already knew of the older mother's risk, as this is true of many disorders the children will be prone to. And the rate of pregnancy interference and the increase of diagnosis of disorders ex spectrum disorders (aside from just an increase in technology/theory) vs "natural birth" is a very interesting correlation that shouldnt be ignored, though obviously there needs to be more scientific info to back up that theory.
All theories and correlation are not causation, but interesting data that help to explain (but not diagnose) the phenomena that seems to be rising.
@SavonDuJour@xanga - that is why it is called a spectrum disorder, as it includes many different types and degrees of "Impact" (high vs median or low functioning) - it includes not just austism, but also fragile x, aspergers, and others.
its a genetical disorder triggered by external and internal toxicity ( such as heavy metals , gmo's by products , environmental pollution etc... list can go on ) it triggers the weaker so to speak gene causing different spectrums resulting in the brain developmental abnormalities