Syndromic Forms of Autism: Part II
Most cases of autism have no underlying cause to them and are called idiopathic. A significant minority of cases have an underlying cause and are called syndromic. This is the […]
Tag Archives: autism research
The significance of small cells in autism
The job of a neuropathologist is to establish the existence of abnormalities in the conformation of both cells and tissue. This endeavor is not all that different from that of […]
Syndromic Forms of Autism: Part I
My partner, Emily Williams, has a blog devoted primarily to science. However, she has had a longstanding interest in autism, specially the genetics of the same. In this blog she […]
Acquired Savant Syndrome
Probably some 25 years ago I was able to participate in a NIH study where we recruited a group of autistic individuals that had calendar calculating abilities. The idea was […]
The rising prevalence of autism: lessons learned from the Flynn effect
Average IQ scores during the last 8 decades have increased by some 25 point. This is an incredibly huge gain observable throughout the whole world, including developing countries. If you […]
Caveats to the Nature-Nurture Debate on Autism
How much of a condition can be explained by environmental influences and how much can be explained by genetic factors? This has been an outdated polemic within the life sciences […]
The Neurodiversity Argument: Good Intentions Resting on a Shaky Scientific Foundation
Neurodiversity is a movement that offers a perspective about autism that differs from that espoused by the medical profession. The ideology seems rooted in the anti-psychiatry movement ( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-psychiatry […]
Our Latest Study: The Link between Mobile Element Content and Autism-risk Genes
Why are there so many risk genes for autism? Can we explain the large number based on a commonality? Despite the push for heterogeneity, our latest result suggests that a […]
Jonathan Mitchell: The Mu Rhythm Bluff
…because my role is that of a gadfly, “to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth” -Socrates Several years ago I met autism’s […]
Similarities between the brains of autistic individuals and some renowned neuroscientists
Human beings have long dwelled on their paradoxical superiority over other animals. Physically we are weaker and, overall, less adapted to the environment than other species. One might reasonably presume […]
