OT but Important:Autistic boys lack certain cells: Study

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Autistic boys lack certain cells: Study

Jul. 21, 2006. 01:00 AM

WASHINGTON—Men and boys with autism have fewer neurons in the amygdala,

a part of the brain involved in emotion and memory, U.S. researchers

reported Tuesday.

The team at the University of California, , looked at the brains

of nine autistic men and boys, aged 10 to 44, and compared them to 10

brains of males who did not have autism.

They counted the number of neurons to see whether the brain cells were

smaller or fewer in number.

Writing in the Journal of Neuroscience, Amaral, research

director of the UC Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental

Disorders Institute, and former graduate student Mills Schumann

said they found significantly fewer neurons in the brains of the people

with autism.

" One possibility is that there are always fewer neurons in the

amygdala of people with autism. Another possibility is that a

degenerative process occurs later in life and leads to neuron loss.

More studies are needed to refine our findings, " Schumann said in a

statement.

In May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that

up to one in every 175 U.S. children has autism, a disease that can

cause symptoms ranging from social isolation to repetitive and damaging

behaviors and sometimes mental retardation.

" While we have known that autism is a developmental brain disorder,

where, how and when the autistic brain develops abnormally has been a

mystery, " Dr. Insel, director of the National Institute of

Mental Health, which funded the study, said in a statement.

" This new finding is important because it demonstrates that the

structure of the amygdala is abnormal in autism. Along with other

findings on the abnormal function of the amygdala, research is

beginning to narrow the search for the brain basis of autism. "

Neurologists believe the amygdala is important in autism because it

generates appropriate emotional responses and helps the brain process

memories that are key to social learning.

REUTERS

Carol F.

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