Christopher Badcock and Bernard Crespi, professors of sociology and biology, respectively, developed a new and intriguing hypothesis about the causes of severe disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Under the titles “Imbalanced genomic imprinting in brain development: An evolutionary basis for the aetiology of autism” in Journal of Evolutionary Biology (2006) and “Battle of the sexes may set the brain” in Nature (2008), Professors Badcock and Crespi suggest that “A tug-of-war between the mother’s and father’s genes in the developing brain could explain a spectrum of mental disorders from autism to schizophrenia.”
In addition to challenging researchers with new ideas to test, their hypothesis is garnering coverage from the popular press. The story is being covered by New York Times, Discover, Autism Vox, and other sources. Part of the reason it’s getting this attention is that there are other implications of the hypothesis. For example, Professors Badcock and Crespi suggest that some scientists’ behavior—fascination with things and perseverance in analyzing them—may also be a result of the tension between gene expression.
Continue reading ‘Severe disorders as extremes in gene expression’
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Sally Ozonoff and colleagues at the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute have identified a potential early indicator of Autism: At age 12 months children with autism play with objects differently than typical peers and children who later develop other problems. Professor Ozonoff’s study was published in Autism.
Continue reading ‘Infant toy play predicts Autism’
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Writing for the New York Times, Melissa Fay Greene provides a sympathetic view of the variation on D.I.R.-Floortime (D.I.R. stands for “developmental, individual-difference, relationship-based) methods employed by The Community School of Decatur (GA, US). In “Reaching an Autistic Teenager,” Ms. Greene describes several youths behavior and progress at the school, which was started by a parent of one of the students.
Continue reading ‘Greene on Floortime’
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According to a story on a CBS (US) television station, a controversial therapy may yield miraculous results. As a reporter for the CBS, Dr. Holly Phillips covered the use of hyperbaric oxgen chambers as a treatment for Autism. She told the story of a family who sought treatment from a New Jersey (US) doctor; the doctor, James A. Neubrander, MD, treated the child with vitamins and oxygen delivered at high pressure. Despite substantial reasons not to cover it, and Dr. Phillips notes them, the popular press continues to report stories such as the one in my lead.
Continue reading ‘Miracle or mistake?’
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As exploring readers will know, I long ago doubted that food components (especially sugar and dyes and flavorings) were causes of hyperactive behavior in children. There are good reasons for my doubt. Meta-analyses of studies that tested additive-free diets revealed essentially no benefits of the diets. Other studies showed that suspected factors—especially sugar—were not culpable in hyperactive behavior. Indeed, other analyses have provided plausible explanations for why we are misled by apparent causal connections.
But, the idea persists and is even getting renewed coverage in the popular media. Melinda Fulmer provided an article to the Los Angeles (CA, US) Times describing recent examinations of the effects of additives on child behavior. Here’s her lead:
Almost every parent has a story about their [sic] kid bouncing off the walls after downing a package of jelly beans or eating a neon blue-frosted cupcake at school. Most blame the sugar.
But some new research suggests that the rainbow of artificial colors may have a bigger effect on children’s behavior. And in other parts of the world, some organizations are starting to take action on these ingredients.
I guess it’s time to revisit this topic. Do I have time to do so? No, but if I presented a mistaken perspective earlier, I should correct it.
More importantly, if Ms. Fulmer and the LA Times are promulgating untrustworthy information, they need to correct it.
Link to Ms. Fulmer’s story. Link to learn more about Ms. Fulmer’s reporting. Link to my previous (AKA “ancient history”) observations about the food additives research.
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As most folks who’ve been around the block a few times know, old bologna seems to get resurrected every so often. Secretin as a therapy for Autism illustrates this. Even though some of us watched it closely in the 1990s, and found it wanting, there is apparently a resurgence of interest in the use of secretin to reduce—if not eliminate—the problems associated with Autism.
Continue reading ‘Revisiting secretin’
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