Brain Enlargement May Be Characteristic of Autism

[Guest guest]

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has found evidence of brain

enlargement in a relatively large sample of children with autism,

compared with children who do not have the disorder, according to a

study which you can read at http://www.emaxhealth.com/85/3900.html

[Guest guest]

Maybe they can use this brain enlargement (swelling?) to link vaccines

to neurological damage. SOMETHING is causing these brains to develop

abnormally; they must know at least *that*.

Pam

>

> Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has found evidence of brain

> enlargement in a relatively large sample of children with autism,

> compared with children who do not have the disorder, according to a

> study which you can read at http://www.emaxhealth.com/85/3900.html

>

[Guest guest]

head circumference has been a study that has been going on for sometime. What i

seem to recall is that one theory claimed that the neural pathways in developing

brains of non-autistic children seem to " prune " themsleves eventually so that

only certian pathways used in every day functioning, thnking, etc. can work

while those not needed die off. However in autistic children the theory was that

the neural pathways stay connected and the brain (and head circumference)

increases over the normal developing brain. This issue of neural connections is

very interesting, it could explain a lot of behaviors and deficits- but knowing

that is going on does not really present too many promising treatment options

right now. Not really sure how you kill off only the over developing neural

pathways and leave the others?

-john

emaxhealth1973 <emaxhealth1973@...> wrote:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has found evidence of brain

enlargement in a relatively large sample of children with autism,

compared with children who do not have the disorder, according to a

study which you can read at http://www.emaxhealth.com/85/3900.html

=======================================================

[Guest guest]

head circumference has been a study that has been going on for sometime.

What i

seem to recall is that one theory claimed that the neural pathways in

developing

brains of non-autistic children seem to " prune " themsleves eventually so

that

only certian pathways used in every day functioning, thnking, etc. can work

while those not needed die off. However in autistic children the theory was

that

the neural pathways stay connected and the brain (and head circumference)

increases over the normal developing brain. This issue of neural connections

is

very interesting, it could explain a lot of behaviors and deficits- but

knowing

that is going on does not really present too many promising treatment

options

right now. Not really sure how you kill off only the over developing neural

pathways and leave the others?

-john

---

Can you cite a source?

--

Michele in Limbo (formerly in California)

talithamichele@...

Visit Michele's World!

http://www.califmichele.com

" Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. "

-- Albert Einstein

[Guest guest]

>>, one of the central premises of intensive ABA treatment or

treatments like concentrated guidance or even neurofeedback therapy

is based on the idea of preventing useless neural pathways from

being used frequently and thereby letting them die out over time,

while stimulating useful connections by discrete trials. Of course,

the earlier in life this is done, the easier.

>>I don't want to get into the controversy surrounding these treatment

options (even though there's is good science behind them), but the

idea is simple: if you stop using a neural connection, it will die

out (be pruned) eventually. If you keep using it, it will be active.

-----

Beti,

I also don't want to start any controversy. But I am very interested in what

you are saying. Do you know where I could find some of the science behind

this idea that you speak of? I have never used ABA so I had not heard this

idea before.

Thanks,

--

Michele in Limbo (formerly in California)

talithamichele@...

Visit Michele's World!

http://www.califmichele.com

" Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. "

-- Albert Einstein

[Guest guest]

What I don't understand is how they exclude the most obvious

hypothesis - people with big heads are more susceptible to mercury

poisoning.

oh, yeah, I forgot. Their heads are too small to wrap around the idea

that they have been poisoning the little kids and turning them

autistic. It must be some complicated genetic phenomenon that has to

be studied for 50 years.

Andy

[Guest guest]

andrewhallcutler wrote:

>What I don't understand is how they exclude the most obvious

>hypothesis - people with big heads are more susceptible to mercury

>poisoning.

>

This is a good point. If you look at the data, while people with autism

skew heavily towards having larger brains when young, the vast majority

of people who have large brains when young (ie, highest quartile or even

top 5%), do not have autism. This would suggest a risk factor, rather

than cause. There was a small study done a few years ago that showed

that larger brains run in families with autism. Possible candidates for

risk might include dysregulation of growth factors (so brains get too

big, or too big too fast) or problems with apoptosis (pruning of cells

not working), or combination. So you could have a susceptibility towards

dysregulation and be non-autistic, and or you could have the

susceptibility and then an environmental hit that results in true

disability, not just a big head.