It is not the first time that it is suggested that autism originates in the stage of embryonic development and not in childhood. A study published in the magazine Journal of the American Medical Association ensures that there is a excess neurons in the brains of autistic children.
The scientists at the Center for Excellence for Autism at the University of California studied the post-morten brains of 13 children between 2 and 16 years old. They found that those with autism had 67% more brain cells that children without autism and that their brains weighed 17.7% more than what is normal for their age.
The overabundance of cells was found in the prefrontal cortex area, a region of the brain that controls the specific areas that children with autism struggle with, such as social, emotional, communication and language development, which could explain the origin of this disease.
They point out that it is a disorder that has its origin in fetal life, as the scientists explain, it is normally between 10 and 20 weeks of gestation when an overabundance of neurons occurs. The brain produces about 20,000 million cells that help the growth of another of its layers, but those cells die towards the end of a pregnancy and in the first days of life (it is a process known as apoptosis or cell suicide).
"Because cortical neurons are not generated after birth, this increase in neurons in autistic children indicates prenatal causes," the study authors said.
In autistic children there would be a pathological increase in the number of neurons. In this excess of neurons would be the key to why the brain cannot connect properly affecting the social skills of children with autism, as well as the ability to communicate and learn to speak.
Of course, it is an interesting finding to try to understand a little better the origin of autism, a disorder with many answers still to be answered that affects one in every one hundred and fifty preschoolers.
