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Credit: National Institute on Aging |
New research shows that children with autism have too many synapses or connections in their brains. A synapse acts a bridge between cells called neurons. The synapse is used to send information between the neurons. Having too many synapses results in poor communication between the cells and researchers think autism symptoms, such as sensitivity to sound, result from these communication problems.
As children grow, their brains prune or pare down the number of synapses. This research found a malfunction of this pruning process in children with autism. This malfunction leaves too many synapses in parts of the brain.
In this study, researchers replicated autism symptoms in mice. Then, researchers were able to reduce the number of synapses in the mice by giving them a drug called rapamycin. The mice displayed less autistic behaviors after receiving rapamycin. Although researchers believe these findings are significant, they caution against expecting a treatment in the near future.
This article was originally published by me on Examiner.com.
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