http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/study-brain-difference-autism_56743200e4b0b958f65657ea
There are physical differences between an autistic brain and a normally-developing one. Most commonly, the differences are noted in the connections between the parts of the brain. All the parts of the brain are the same, but the wiring between them is different.
This article highlights another difference: a neurotransmitter called GABA. The article is kinda science-jargon-y, which I get because I studied psychology. But not everyone has, so for ease of understanding...
GABA is a neurotransmitter, a chemical produced in the brain to accomplish a task. GABA's task in specific, is to filter out extra data in the environment. I described my sound sensitivity previously, but part of it is the inability to filter out excess noises. Things like a fan in the background, birds chirping, some thoughtless neighbor blaring their music. Your brain naturally selects relevant information from the environment, like the movie you're watching, and filters out everything else (fan, refrigerator sounds).
So this study did an experiment. They got a group of participants to do a task with distraction, then measured their GABA levels. As might be expected, normally-developing people with high GABA levels had an easier time with the task. Autistic people, though? Their GABA levels didn't affect performance. It's not that the autistic brain is missing GABA, it's that the GABA isn't doing anything.
So what does this all mean? Well... besides being another measurable difference between neurotypical brains, it might explain why autistic people are often more prone to sensory processing disorders. I suffer from sound and light sensitivity. Last Friday I wrote about another individual whose light sensitivity is different than mine. Some people can't stand to be touched, and feel hugs as pain. Temple Grandin is/was one of those people with touch sensitivity.
Something I've personally noted: my doctor mentioned snagging what I'm calling "chill pills" now- a low dosage, mint flavored GABA lozenge (like a hard candy). Just one of those is enough to mildly bludgeon my upset brain into a calmer frame of mind. I tend to call that state of mind a sulk, rather than contentedness, but it's much better than throwing a fit. So I think GABA isn't entire slacking off on its job for me. But it has to be overloaded, first. The amount of GABA in one of those lozenges is far higher than the amounts that would be found in my brain. So if my brain is slammed with a torrent of "filter out unnecessary noise" chemical, it cooperates. But it doesn't necessarily cooperate if it's not being slammed.
As I mentioned, I don't entirely find the results of taking GABA pleasant, so I'm not sure how I feel about potential treatments being developed from this theory. But perhaps, if they can figure out just the right level of slamming, it wouldn't be unpleasant.
There are physical differences between an autistic brain and a normally-developing one. Most commonly, the differences are noted in the connections between the parts of the brain. All the parts of the brain are the same, but the wiring between them is different.
This article highlights another difference: a neurotransmitter called GABA. The article is kinda science-jargon-y, which I get because I studied psychology. But not everyone has, so for ease of understanding...
GABA is a neurotransmitter, a chemical produced in the brain to accomplish a task. GABA's task in specific, is to filter out extra data in the environment. I described my sound sensitivity previously, but part of it is the inability to filter out excess noises. Things like a fan in the background, birds chirping, some thoughtless neighbor blaring their music. Your brain naturally selects relevant information from the environment, like the movie you're watching, and filters out everything else (fan, refrigerator sounds).
So this study did an experiment. They got a group of participants to do a task with distraction, then measured their GABA levels. As might be expected, normally-developing people with high GABA levels had an easier time with the task. Autistic people, though? Their GABA levels didn't affect performance. It's not that the autistic brain is missing GABA, it's that the GABA isn't doing anything.
So what does this all mean? Well... besides being another measurable difference between neurotypical brains, it might explain why autistic people are often more prone to sensory processing disorders. I suffer from sound and light sensitivity. Last Friday I wrote about another individual whose light sensitivity is different than mine. Some people can't stand to be touched, and feel hugs as pain. Temple Grandin is/was one of those people with touch sensitivity.
Something I've personally noted: my doctor mentioned snagging what I'm calling "chill pills" now- a low dosage, mint flavored GABA lozenge (like a hard candy). Just one of those is enough to mildly bludgeon my upset brain into a calmer frame of mind. I tend to call that state of mind a sulk, rather than contentedness, but it's much better than throwing a fit. So I think GABA isn't entire slacking off on its job for me. But it has to be overloaded, first. The amount of GABA in one of those lozenges is far higher than the amounts that would be found in my brain. So if my brain is slammed with a torrent of "filter out unnecessary noise" chemical, it cooperates. But it doesn't necessarily cooperate if it's not being slammed.
As I mentioned, I don't entirely find the results of taking GABA pleasant, so I'm not sure how I feel about potential treatments being developed from this theory. But perhaps, if they can figure out just the right level of slamming, it wouldn't be unpleasant.
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