Powerhouse Of Body Pedals Autism-Linked Genes

A recent study suggests that Autism results from defects in genetic activity which can be activated or deactivated by the brain signals.

Most important part of the body, the brain, is the powerhouse which controls the bodily processes. Any little distortions in its functioning can lead to serious outcomes.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Director Thomas R. Insel, who led the research, said in a NIMH news release that there can be different causes of Autism which results from genetic mutations in different families.

Researchers found out in this study that Autism genes have direct link with the brain functions and vice-versa.

According to the findings of the study, published in the July 11 issue of Science, a significant genetic alteration can restrict the configuration of neural connections between neurons at a time when the developing brain of a child is being influenced by experience.

This means that the people with Autism have no advantage or learning from social situations, a normal child on contrary learns a lot from social surroundings and events.

Another researcher, Walsh said "whether or not certain important genes turn on is thus dependent on experience-triggered neural activity. Disruption of this refinement process may be a common mechanism of autism-associated mutations."

The study looked at genetic distortions in Autism in families from the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan. It was discovered that the married cousins had Autistic children.

This gave an idea to the researchers that small distortions get amplified into significant transmutations which cause Autism in the children of married cousins.

Another study published in the journal Neuroimage, too indicates that poor synchronization between the different parts of brain is the major root cause of Autism.

The study compared 16 people who had an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with the other 16 who were normal.

The study revealed that though, 16 people with disorder had above-average IQs but their brain activity remained constant when the stimuli were changed while in case of normal individuals, the brain activity changed with a change in stimuli.

As said by Dr. G Bird, study leader, this is due to the fact that the areas of the brain that process a specific information (as per the hierarchy set by an individual’s experience) are not linked properly to parts of the brain that control attention - such as the frontal and parietal regions.