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Autism Support Network reports
As a baby's brain develops, there is an explosion of synapses, the connections that allow neurons to send and receive signals. But during childhood and adolescence, the brain needs to start pruning those synapses, limiting their number so different brain areas can develop specific functions and are not overloaded with stimuli.
Now a new study suggests that in children with autism, something in the process goes awry, leaving an oversupply of synapses in at least some parts of the brain.
[...]
The study, published [August 21] in the journal Neuron, involved tissue from the brains of children and adolescents who had died from ages 2 to 20. About half had autism; the others did not.
The researchers, from Columbia University Medical Center, looked closely at an area of the brain's temporal lobe involved in social behavior and communication. Analyzing tissue from 20 of the brains, they counted spines -- the tiny neuron protrusions that receive signals via synapses -- and found more spines in children with autism.
The scientists found that at younger ages, the number of spines did not differ tremendously between the two groups of children, but adolescents with autism had significantly more than those without autism. Typical 19-year-olds had 41 percent fewer synapses than toddlers, but those in their late teenage years with autism had only 16 percent fewer than young children with autism.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Wednesday September 03 2014, @06:33AM
There actually *isn't* an "autism epidemic." Much of the increase in classic autism diagnoses was mirrored by a decrease in diagnoses of things like non-specific pervasive developmental disorder, and took place during the time period that California (the state typically used for these numbers) repeatedly broadened its definition of autism.
In addition to that, awareness in the public & professionals increased dramatically as more people knew someone with a diagnosed child, leading them to be better-positioned to recognize the traits in undiagnosed autistics. Also, the severe stigma associated with the condition lessened, making more parents willing to accept it, and crucially, far more doctors willing to diagnose it rather than a less-stigmatized alternative.
During that same time period and beyond it, geeks on the spectrum (but undiagnosed) from around the country relocated to California and reproduced with one another, leading to a child with a very high chance of inheriting at least some of the genes.
As a parallel, I've recently noticed quite a few people claim that there's an "epidemic" of gay individuals going on. If one looks only at the numbers over the last 30 years, obviously it does look that way as more and more gay people 'came out' -- but when the context is taken into account, it becomes clear that people like them were part of society all along without others knowing them.