Can concussions cause autism?

Post Reply New Topic

Sports concussions (football, soccer, ice hockey, etc.) - What's the evidence, in your view, of concussions / sports concussions being a cause for some cases of autism? Asperger's? ADHD?

Also, shaken baby syndrome / non-standard birth process/delayed birth process - complications/delivery by forceps, attention deficit(s), etc.

No.

Interesting question.

There are multiple neurological differences between autistic people and NT people; the amygdala in particular is reportedly different in autistic people in terms of its activity and the way it communicates with other regions of the brain. Whether a concussion or head injury can reproduce those differences is hard to say, though I'm inclined to say it's unlikely but not impossible.

For example. there have been cases where concussions and various head injuries have led to the development of savant abilities. Of course that isn't autism, but it's an example of how a neurological trait generally considered to be innate can appear due to environmental factors.

According to the Intense World Theory of autism, the amygdala in autistic people is hyperactive and hyperplastic. As injury generally leads to loss of function it's difficult to conceive of a way that the brain could be injured in such a way to render the amygdala of a normal person hyperactive and hyperplastic. We would also need to consider the other regions of the brain implicated in autism. Taken together, it does seem unlikely that a head injury could reproduce those specific changes, but then again there's so much about the brain and about autism we don't know.

the only way i can see that hapening is if it happens at a young age BEFORE the diagnosis and it causes moderate to sesevere MR. then it can prevent the diagnosis of asperger's because in order to have asperger's you cant have have MR

The results of the brain injury might mimic autism/ADHD but it wouldn't actually be either of these because they are there from birth. I have seen a documentary about brain injuries and some of the people on there did appear autistic/ADHD.

_________________
I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

If head injuries caused autism it would have been figured out a long time ago. That is a very simple cause and effect and very easy to perform a study on. Get a group of 1000 autism diagnoses and ask how many have suffered a head injury. I would be flabbergasted if this had not already been studied and rejected considering the extreme lengths parts of the community go to in trying to find a cause (mercury, intestinal flora, etc).

There is a theory that autistic infants are more vulnerable to shaken baby syndrome because they don't make eye contact with their mothers and don't calm quickly when picked up. Those who would shake a baby are more likely to shake an autistic one than an NT.

I had a couple of mild concussions in high school but I had autistic traits from infancy. I was a very difficult baby.

There is a significant diagnostic overlap between ‘mild’ acquired brain injuries and Asperger’s syndrome: http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/new ... abi-667654

We're more vulnerable to abuse, and we're clumsier... makes sense to me; both those things can give you head injuries.

I had been able to hide most of my symptoms. I seem normal. On the downside, I was recently rear ended and sustained whiplash and a concussion. The only difference was that I seemed "slow" the past few days. I was still able to drive and make split second decisions, but moving fast and tearing tags at work was difficult motor wise. I also had difficulty remembering things, but now I seem to be getting some of my mind back...the physio seems to be helping. I get headaches as a result of the whiplash as well.