New Findings In Understanding Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a developmental disorder that leads to social dysfunction, repetitive and inflexible behavior, and hypersensitivity to sound and light. Recently it has been found that boys are 4 times more likely than girls to develop autism; about 2.7% of boys have autism while only 0.7% of girls have the disorder. 

A recent study in mice investigating immune cells called microglia in the developing brain has led to the conclusion that a failure in these cells’ roles may lead to Autism Spectrum disorder in boys. One of the roles of microglial cells is to engulf redundant synapses (the electrical connection between nerve cells) which neuroscientists believe is essential for the maintenance of flexibility in your brains. This means that the extra synapses are not removed from the brain. The brain does need a certain amount of strong synapses, however, too many disables the flexibility of the brain making it hard to retain new information and unlearn certain behaviors. It has been shown that even in adults, removal of some synapses is not only common but essential for cognitive flexibility during the awake hours. But what keeps microglia cells from fulfilling their roles? The research has found that the overproduction of protein in these cells as a result of a genetic fault may be the source of prevention. 

Previous studies have already linked hundreds of gene variants to the development of autism, but each one on its own only raises the risk of developing the condition slightly; it is not significant enough to link the cause of autism to a single gene variant. However, the current study has found that a subset of ASB genes is known for increasing protein production in cells through a common metabolic pathway; despite this research, these particular genes only account for 3% of ASD cases. 

While this study has greatly helped in the journey of understanding autism, it has one major drawback - animal models of diseases do not often align completely with how diseases work in humans. Furthermore, the presented data is only sufficient for explaining some cases, but not all. Despite these drawbacks, it is important to remember that every medical finding, no matter how small, is incredibly important and should be celebrated.

Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/faulty-immune-cells-in-the-developing-brain-may-contribute-to-autism-in-males