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Matt Kaplan’s Followers (33)
Matt Kaplan
Born
The United States
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.
“Mice that had initially shown a fear of stranger mice showed no sign of this behavior after they were treated with suramin. They behaved like ordinary mice for as long as the suramin was in their systems. After five weeks, when the suramin was effectively gone, their autistic behavior returned.
Whether blocking purines will have the same effect in people needs to be tested. Moreover, suramin has a long-term toxic effect, so a safer alternative needs to be found. Nevertheless, that an autistic human could potentially be granted a normal life with a single drug is amazing. Yet, as I worked through Dr. Naviaux’s papers one thought lingered: Would an autistic savant want an ordinary life?”
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Whether blocking purines will have the same effect in people needs to be tested. Moreover, suramin has a long-term toxic effect, so a safer alternative needs to be found. Nevertheless, that an autistic human could potentially be granted a normal life with a single drug is amazing. Yet, as I worked through Dr. Naviaux’s papers one thought lingered: Would an autistic savant want an ordinary life?”
―
“Dr. Naviaux knew that the cellular danger response took effect when cells were “told” by organic compounds in the blood, called purines, to stop performing their ordinary services and activate defensive systems to stave off attack from viruses or toxic chemicals. Moreover, he suspected that when the danger response was activated in young children, the purines sometimes just kept circulating nonstop and left neurons in permanent defensive lockdown. If this was so, then he theorized that targeting the purine activity could potentially end the lockdown, allow the neurons to make long connections again, and treat the autism.
Dr. Naviaux set up an experiment with mice. He knew from past work that if female mice were infected with a virus midpregnancy, their offspring would be born with brains in defensive lockdown and exhibit autistic behaviors such as fear of novelty and difficulty interacting with other mice.”
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Dr. Naviaux set up an experiment with mice. He knew from past work that if female mice were infected with a virus midpregnancy, their offspring would be born with brains in defensive lockdown and exhibit autistic behaviors such as fear of novelty and difficulty interacting with other mice.”
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“This is why play and communication, and giggling and the recognition of mother’s face, are so important in the first year of life. The physical and mental use of neural circuits makes cells ‘light up’ with metabolic activity so neurons can find one another and make new connections, sometimes at long distances in the brain.” Yet, this connection making can go wrong.
“When cells suspect danger, they resist sending out the longer connections. Their axons are shorter and they have fewer branches. However, even though they send out fewer long axons, neurons still engage in local activity as the drive to make connections during early development is very strong,” said Dr. Naviaux. The result is a brain filled with isolated islands of superconnectivity that can perform specific tasks at remarkable speeds.”
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“When cells suspect danger, they resist sending out the longer connections. Their axons are shorter and they have fewer branches. However, even though they send out fewer long axons, neurons still engage in local activity as the drive to make connections during early development is very strong,” said Dr. Naviaux. The result is a brain filled with isolated islands of superconnectivity that can perform specific tasks at remarkable speeds.”
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