Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
Today's article further expands on the usefulness of trans-cranial magnetic stimulation. It also makes me wonder whether autism researchers ever talk to autistic people.
The gist of this study is that TMS (trans-cranial magnetic stimulation) has been shown to be effective in treating depression. So these researchers decided to try it on depressed autistics, because why not? Autistic people are prone to much higher rates of depression, and there's always the hope that "maybe this time we'll find a cure." Also, we don't tend to respond well to antidepressants, because our neurologies and biologies are already so sensitive. Medications are essentially treatment via blunt-force trauma, so if your system is already sensitive, it's typically not going to go well. Hence, other treatment options, like TMS, are necessary.
Unsurprisingly, the TMS treated the autistics' depression. Not everyone in this small study could tolerate the treatment, which doesn't surprise me given our tendency toward sensory issues. Still, 70% of the 13 participants had improvements in their depressive symptoms. So, promising!
The bit that makes me shake my head is the researchers' excitement about the reduction in repetitive behaviors, hyperactivity, and irritability. Why yes, if you reduce the amount of suffering a person experiences every day, they WILL tend to act more "normal." Repetitive behaviors can serve a number of purposes, but especially they tend to be a coping mechanism for handling suffering. Shocking, I know.
Most members of the autism community could have told the researchers this would happen, but I guess, like most research on autism, we weren't consulted. Oh boy.
At any rate, ignorant researchers or no, this is a promising step forward. It's the most basic of clinical trials, and they'll need to do additional ones that include double-blind and sham treatments. Hopefully, given these results, funding will come for those additional studies soon.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
Today's article further expands on the usefulness of trans-cranial magnetic stimulation. It also makes me wonder whether autism researchers ever talk to autistic people.
The gist of this study is that TMS (trans-cranial magnetic stimulation) has been shown to be effective in treating depression. So these researchers decided to try it on depressed autistics, because why not? Autistic people are prone to much higher rates of depression, and there's always the hope that "maybe this time we'll find a cure." Also, we don't tend to respond well to antidepressants, because our neurologies and biologies are already so sensitive. Medications are essentially treatment via blunt-force trauma, so if your system is already sensitive, it's typically not going to go well. Hence, other treatment options, like TMS, are necessary.
Unsurprisingly, the TMS treated the autistics' depression. Not everyone in this small study could tolerate the treatment, which doesn't surprise me given our tendency toward sensory issues. Still, 70% of the 13 participants had improvements in their depressive symptoms. So, promising!
The bit that makes me shake my head is the researchers' excitement about the reduction in repetitive behaviors, hyperactivity, and irritability. Why yes, if you reduce the amount of suffering a person experiences every day, they WILL tend to act more "normal." Repetitive behaviors can serve a number of purposes, but especially they tend to be a coping mechanism for handling suffering. Shocking, I know.
Most members of the autism community could have told the researchers this would happen, but I guess, like most research on autism, we weren't consulted. Oh boy.
At any rate, ignorant researchers or no, this is a promising step forward. It's the most basic of clinical trials, and they'll need to do additional ones that include double-blind and sham treatments. Hopefully, given these results, funding will come for those additional studies soon.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
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