Neurotransmitter in the brain linked with autism

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That's the frustrating part for me - the study that started this thread talked about autism, but the paper itself read more like it was specifically referring to being oversensitive to stimulus (or processing of the same). They have a very high overlap, but it is not necessary for them to be the same. So many of the symptoms or checklist items for a diagnosis of autism involve sensory input and processing that I guess the distinction really doesn't matter.

Basically, sensory regulation seems to always have some tie to serotonin*, and all these other hormones and neurotransmitters that are implicated in studies either co-regulate with serotonin or are the last mile (the actual dampening of individual connection signals) of regulating sensory processing. And mixed in it all is an intriguing implication that because of all this there are timing issues; the signals eventually make it through but via an atypical path and so a different "conclusion" is formed.

Serotonin is our first developed, most basic neurotransmitter. It regulates hunger, thirst, digestion, mood, immune & autoimmune responses, sleep, sensory processing, etc., so this isn't an implication that serotonin is *the* cause & in fact SSRI's are an exceedingly blunt way to try to get a system of interlocked, co-regulated body chemicals back into a good range. But sometimes it works...

Interesting, Edenthiel. Sensory processing disorder *is* among my son's alphabet soup of diagnoses. While I doubt that I would be able to procure SSRIs for my 6-yr-old to help him overcome his SPD, it shouldn't be difficult to procure 5-HTP. What is your opinion of 5-HTP ? Would it "work" ?

I am getting desperate now. I am also afraid to do anything to / with him, without first doing the research and talking to his neurologist, but your feedback would help ! Thanks !

Thank you for this post, and your posting in general. You are obviously well-informed about neurology, and it's a subject I find fascinating so I'm happy for the chance to hear from people well-versed in it. I have learned so much from this forum, it's one of the things I like best about WrongPlanet.

Autism notwithstanding, I think it's beautiful that people are taking an interest in their own brains. That said, the Mother Jones Disqus comments thread on this research paper is full of disingenuous waity katies, grammar nazis and believe it or not, a serious minority of people actually getting a word in about their personal experiences of actually having HFA!

Call me crazy but I don't think NTs are prepared to interpret hardly any of this. It's just a school of hard knocks thing on our part that they can't get past not having lived through.

There is so much white noise I have to filter through on a day to day basis.
Understanding the science and the physical nature of my thought process makes life easier to deal with.

I don't get snowed under so easily.

I appreciate the findings on GABA since they validate a good number of my own experiences holistically managing my symptoms. What I don't appreciate is how these studies invariably kick off news site flame wars & people publicly avowing that we're all about to be cured. They make Autism Speaks look angelic in contrast. Usually their kids just got diagnosed and they've decided to take their indignation out on anybody else with the condition. There are no lies such people won't propagate if only to allay their paranoia.

I've made my way through life pretending to be normal with various degrees of success, people gave dismissed me as being "weird" "annoying" "smart-ass". Mostly I've been ignored and left to my own devices.
What kind of discrimination does a person in the spectrum endure? Do people look down at you? Belittle you?

i got called weird and worse names and excluded. it took me past my child-bearing years to find a mate. my profession i worked 23 years to get into and then 9 in expelled me. some people get beat up. if those aren't some negative consequences, i don't know what would be.