This Might Be The Root Of Autism – And It’s Not Vaccines!

A lot of scientists are trying to find any kind of clue to reach the source of autism, what is the reason to cause one, if there’s any way to prevent it, and although it seems like a long ride, there are new techniques and sources to get closer to the root of the problem. And, apparently, as close as we are to the truth of what causes autism, the vaccines are not part of the problem. Here’s why.

According to a new study, it could be caused by having too much brain connections and synapses. Senior author Azad Bonni, head of the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, explained in a statement “An increased number of synapses creates miscommunication among neurons in the developing brain that correlates with impairments in learning, although we don’t know how”.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the name for a group of developmental disorders. ASD includes a wide range, “a spectrum,” of symptoms, skills, and levels of disability, and it’s mostly a genetic aspect, but the environmental factors can also play a huge role in causing it. Several genes have been linked to people with autism, six of these genes are called ubiquitin ligases and they’re responsible for attaching molecular tags called ubiquitins to proteins. These genes work as “the bosses” of the system where they are commanding the rest of the cells how to handle the tagged proteins, what to do with them, and how to use them.  As knowing this fact, we will proceed with another. It’s common is United States, and this condition is affecting one in 68 people. So, knowing all of this, which is a pretty much an alarming situation, how did the scientists came close to what might cause the problem?

Some experts believe that there is a certain gene mutation of the  ubiquitin ligases which prevents it to work correctly. So, the scientists at Washington University have made an experiment on mice. They removed RNF8 (a ubiquitin gene) in neurons in the cerebellum (an area of the brain affected by autism) of the young mice. The mice missing the gene developed an excess of synapses, which affected their ability to learn. Those mice had 50 percent more synapses than their peers, who had their RNF8 gene intact. The scientists then measured the electrical signal in the neurons and found that it was twice as strong compared to those with a normal functioning cell. They have observed the mice,to check if the motor skills are working correctly,and trained them to associate a puff of air to the eye with a blinking light and one week later, the controlled group avoided the irritation caused by the puff of air by closing their eyes 75 percent of the time. The test group only did so one-third of the time.

So, the main thesis here is that the scientists point out that the mouse which didn’t shut its eyes is not equate to the human cases of autism, but still more work is needed to verify the hypothesis. This study does reveal an interesting association between synapses and behavior that could one day lead to treatments.

Source: IFLScience

Image Source: IFLScience