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Lack of 'Mirror Neurons' Linked to Autism
FruFox writes "A recent study has pointed to a possible link between autism and lack of so-called 'mirror neurons' , either physically or functionally. This provides the first solid physical evidence to back up the theory that autism's root cause is a profound lack of empathy. This probably impacts the world of Asperger's Syndrome as well. Many Slashdot readers are undoubtedly familiar with the world of Asperger's / autism."
While there are similarities in the two disorders (as well as with Asperger's) the tag "juvenile schizophrenia" is misleading, as Autism is not restricted to children.
That being said, further research into this pattern (such as to determine if there is an impact on schizophrenia) is of interest. As an aspie, I'm greatly appreciative of any information that can help me deal with the cards I've been dealt.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
I got to thinking though that this would mean you'd have to have some OTHER condition in which only the second of those mechanisms was present. I don't know what the research says on this, but is it possible that the second mechanism on its own is responsible for schizo-effective disorders (of which schizophrenia is the most serious)?
(This still means that Aspergers and Autism fall on the same spectrum, but would imply that HFA and LFA are Aspergers with a schizo-effective element. That doesn't sound right, but if that is NOT the case, we're looking at THREE independent mechanisms being involved in autism - at least - and I'm even less happy with the idea of having more variables than absolutely necessary to explain it.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
"It's not wrong to be a geek. We are not sick. Don't buy into their lies."
:)
Thank GOD! Finally someone said it.
It was bad enough back in the eighties, when I had to go through High School huddled in the hallway with my three friends (all of us were physics nerds) while popular-type assholes swung by trying to one-up each other, making fun of us.
And it was annoying when all of us engineering majors in college had to put up with shit all the time because business and liberal-arts majors treated us like we were some weird other species. I mean, god forbid we crack open the hood of our car and (gasp!) change a freakin' alternator for twenty bucks at the part shop instead of laying out two hundred to have a fat, sweaty, greasy guy do it for us (and make a mess of the wire connections! Don't these people have electrical tape???).
But, these days, every five minutes some psychologist schmuck is trying to play all phony-sympathetic with us, laying some story on us about how we're all "suffering" from some weirdo "syndrome" and we're all really "autistic" and so on.
HEY! SHRINKS OF THE WORLD! I'm a programmer! I make triple the national average salary, can fix, build, or break more different types of equipment than you know the names of, and I whupped your kid's honor-roll ass at Halo II last night! I'm just fine the way I am, and if you come over here trying to take my crazy away, I'm gonna give you an atomic wedgie, drag your ass in my unkempt bathroom, and give you a swirly for good measure! And I haven't cleaned my toilet in weeks! And I eat at Taco Bell regularly! Begone, go back to bothering the neurotics whose mothers make them dress funny!
Um... Heh heh. I guess this issue gets me a bit worked up.
Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
I think you've summed up the problem well, what the diagnosis was intended for and what's it becoming applied to are two different things.
more of a bizarre confusion regarding what the mental disorder entails.
I agree it's a confusion, but to me it doesn't seem bizarre, I believe the diagnostic criteria are poorly written and overly broad, to the point where way too many people are getting diagnosed (the wikipedia article for aspergers cites numbers like 7 expected cases per 1000, yet diagnosis rates are shooting up, way up).
It's not just aspergers, but that one is close to my heart since my chosen lifestyle and my personality almost just fits into what they are calling diagnostic criteria.
Mental Disorders Strike Nearly Half of All Americans
Do you really think half of all americans are mentally ill? Discounting certain election-induced mass delusions, I seriously doubt it.
It's becoming a major industry to create disease where there is none, to make any nonconformity a disease. It's a dangerous cross between commercial interest in pushing designer prescription drugs, and government interest in supressing non-conformity, and removing personal responsibility. Removing responsibility removes freedom.
It also does a disservice to the truely mentally ill like your brother in law. It clouds the issue of what is and isn't a mental disorder. Him being lumped in with millions of kids with normal behavior problems, and thousands of nerdy adults that want an easy cop-out does not do him any good.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
In my case, it's a little confused since I have a mild seizure disorder AND have been diagnosed bipolar as well. However, the treatment I'm on for those does seem to mitigate the negative side of Aspergers some. However, without a baseline fMRI and an on-meds fMRI (plus an expert in this field), I have no hard data on that. It could equally well be that the other stuff aggravated whatever the Asperger mechanism is.
The extensive research going on is excellent - I'm surprised it took so long for them to use fMRI, I would have thought that one obvious, although I've been told in the past by my own doctor that fMRI couldn't possibly show anything up. Clearly they were wrong on that. (* Gloat *)
Some more information for the obsessive:
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
An excellent point well made.
;-)
;-)
I have aspergers as does my 7 year old son and we couldn't survive day to day life without a lot of support from our loved ones which we don't always acknowledge due to our lack of empathy generally. If it's hard for someone with aspergers it's harder for those that support them and I wouldn't have noticed this without a hell of a lot of help.
The inability to spot a lie makes life difficult among people who would like to take advantage of me, luckily I have learned the hard way to avoid these people but it led me to live an almost friendless existance for many years until I discovered it was certain types of people that led to my unhappiness.
I have suffered with depression for years caused by my inability to understand other people. I don't believe I or my son have a problem but the majority of people who lie and accept they are being lied to on a daily basis should probably book themselves into a facility for some care
as for the getting lost unless your friend follows the same route both myself and my son are lucky in the fact that we can 'see' maps and know the topology of the surrounding area automatically. Unfortunatly this does make it even harder than normal when we are lost. It's impossible to describe the feelings I have when I don't 'know' where I am in terms I think you could understand this makes it impossible to sleep on journeys.
Like most people with aspergers I have things that I think should be done in a certain way and my son also has things he likes done in certain ways you can't imagine the clash that happens when these two ideas clash.
On the positive side I can talk to my son like an adult on some subjects (his maths is excellent) but as a negative he is very late at developing in some areas.
Certainly in the UK part of the diagnosis is that it 'has' to affect your day to day ability to live unaided.
geeks aren't generally aspies but aspies are often geeks
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