Autism's mechanistic nature

Research suggests that there are significant changes at the molecular level in a fetus that cause boys to be more susceptible to autism than girls. The article I’ve chosen is Why men are more likely to have autism: Their brains are more prone to genetic flaws, study finds. Scientists analyzed both the “individual variations in the number of copies of a particular gene and DNA sequence variations.” This article explains that boys tend to need less genetic variations to occur in order for them to develop autism vs. girls. It also explains that compared to boys, girls with autism tend to have more harmful DNA variations than boys with autism. Therefore, the genetic difference between girl and boy autism are seen more across DNA than they are on the male X chromosome. This findings of this study can help lead to gender specific approaches for the screening of neuro-developmental disorders.

Now on to exciting part! Connecting this article to what I’ve learned in Pink Brain, Blue Brain, one thing I’ve realized is that not only are girls and boys physically and mentally different (yet similar), but they also develop disorders differently as well. One thing Lise Eliot introduced to us right of the bat is that boys and girls must have complex molecular differences within them to make them act a certain way without telling them to do so (i.e. her daughter drawing fairies while her sons were obsessing over cars). This study certainly backs up her reasoning using autism as an example. Another thing that intrigued me was Lise Eliot mentioned that exposure to prenatal testosterone didn’t exactly mean that boys would develop autism (pg 81). This is interesting because the article above also begins to prove her point that it may not be external factors (like the level of prenatal testosterone), rather internal factors (at the molecular level) that cause autism. This makes sense because the Baren Cohen study mentioned by Lise Eliot stated the autistic boys tend to have larger brains (larger than normal boy brains), or as Lise Eliot put it: “overgrowth of the brain in the first year of life.” It could be very much possible that the genes causing such an overgrowth could also be responsible for the development of autism within boys.

It is interesting to see that many of Lise Eliot’s conclusions or insights into other’s research is beginning to be proven by researchers worldwide. This means the Eliot has been able to make rational conclusions from research conducted and can significantly contribute to the science behind gender based differences neurologically. It was intriguing to read about (both in the book and the news article) that much of what we contribute to external factors for neurological disorders may in fact be beyond control due to molecular mechanisms.

To Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2570106/Why-men-likely-autism-Their-brains-prone-genetic-flaws-study-finds.html#ixzz2ugWwoIAa

Lise, Eliot. Pink Brain, Blue Brain.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Nida Ahmad