Charles Darwin had autism, leading psychiatrist claims[News]

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Charles Darwin had autism, leading psychiatrist claims
Charles Darwin probably had a form of autism called Asperger's syndrome which is related to creativity and originality, a leading psychiatrist claims.
by Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
Last Updated: 12:59PM GMT 18 Feb 2009

Darwin, the author of On the Origin of Species which sets out the theory of natural selection, had an extraordinary attention to detail but had difficulties with social interaction, according to Prof Michael Fitzgerald of Dublin's Trinty College.

Prof Fitzgerald believes that Darwin, who was born on Feb12, 200 years ago, was suffering from a behavioural disorder.

Today he will tell the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Academic Psychiatry, and says Darwin was probably suffering from Asperger's syndrome.

Prof Fitzgerald said: "It is suggested that the same genes that produce autism and Asperger's syndrome are also responsible for great creativity and originality.

"Asperger's syndrome gave Darwin the capacity to hyperfocus, the extra capacity for persistence, the enormous ability to see detail that other people missed, the endless energy for a lifetime dedication to a narrow task, and the independence of mind so critical to original research."

Darwin was a solitary child – as many people with Asperger's syndrome are, Prof Fitzgerald said and his emotional immaturity and fear of intimacy extended to adulthood. He avoided socialising and took long solitary walks, walking the same route daily. He was a compulsive letter writer, but these were almost devoid of social chat.

Darwin was a great collector. As a child he hoarded insects and shells, and while at university he became obsessed with chemistry and gadgets.

Professor Fitzgerald said: "Darwin had a massive capacity to observe, to introspect and to analyse. From adolescence he was a massive systematiser, initially of insects and other specimens which he catalogued. He had a tremendously visual brain. He spent eight years studying barnacles, and wrote books on his observations of earthworms and even his own children. He was a rather obsessive-compulsive and ritualistic man.

"Creativity is extremely complex, and so far no theory or model of brain function has been able to explain it fully. But I hope that future progress in understanding the basis of autism may lead to a better understanding of autistic creativity and creativity in general."

i suspect there are LOTS of amazing people who had AS.

God has nonverbal LFA, just FYI and all.

God has nonverbal LFA, just FYI and all.

God has nonverbal LFA, just FYI and all.

I wonder if there really is anything 'extra' to the genius mind at all. If we could monitor Einsteins brain activity while he was pondering his great thoughts, would we see the screen go bright red with the intensity of his mentation? This is the image perpetuated by the tabloid media: boffin brain in hyperdrive. As if his processor is running at twice normal speed!

In the early 1980s, neurologist Marian Diamond from the University of California, Berkeley, analysed some slides containing sections of Einstein's brain taken from the prefrontal and parietal lobes. These areas are part of the "association" cortex, which is involved with higher thought. Comparing the slides with similar tissue from 11 control brains, she found that Einstein's brain contained a greater than normal ratio of glial cells to neurons. Glial cells were until recently thought to be support cells for the neurons, important in providing energy and resources but not much more. They are now known to be involved in neural processing and signal transmission too. The absolute numbers were hard to measure, because of the way the tissue was preserved and sectioned, but Einstein's brain appeared to have double the normal number of glial cells in the left parietal region.

Diamond compared her findings to a case report of a mathematician whose brain was damaged in this same region so that he became unable to draw or write formulae, or to use a slide rule. Some eminent mathematicians say abstract concepts feel almost real, to the point that it is as if they exist in the brain and can be manipulated like real objects. Perhaps this region, which is known to be important for visuospatial cognition, is key. There are other possibilities, however. Einstein claimed to be dyslexic and to have a poor memory for words. Damage to this region can cause dyslexia, so maybe his low neuron-to-glia ratio was a cause or result of his verbal difficulties rather than his reasoning skills.

Another study in the mid-1990s looked at the outer millimetre of cortical tissue from Einstein's right prefrontal lobe, a region that is associated with working memory, planning, regulation of intellectual function, and motor coordination. Britt Anderson from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, reported that the number and size of neurons here appeared normal, but that the cortex was thinner than average (2.1 millimetres compared with 2.6 millimetres in five control brains) making Einstein's cortical neurons more densely packed than usual. Anderson speculates that closer packing may speed up communication between neurons.

Then in 1998, Witelson studied Einstein's brain again, this time from photos, and it appeared unremarkable except for the parietal lobes. Here the brain was 15 per cent wider than average, giving it a more spherical shape. In addition, two major grooves in this area were joined into one large furrow, which suggests the local circuitry was particularly highly integrated, Witelson speculates. What's more, while normal brains are asymmetrical, Einstein's parietal lobes were symmetrical. This all lends weight to the idea that his brain structure may have been unusual in some key areas that are important for spatial and reasoning skills.
Einstein's brain was 15 per cent wider than average, making it more spherical

What about other scientists? Manuel Casanova from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, studied post-mortem brain tissue from three eminent scientists and found that there were interesting patterns in the arrangement of cortical neurons (Autism, vol 11, p 557). The smallest processing module of neurons in the cortex is called a minicolumn - a vertical arrangement of cells that seem to work as a team. The scientists' minicolumns were smaller than those of controls, with less space between cells, meaning there were more processing units within any given cortical area. Computer modelling suggests that smaller processing units may allow for better signal detection and more focused attention. Small minicolumns are also seen in people with autism and Asperger's syndrome, says Casanova.

Are you listening, God? It is me, sartresue! topic