Is Autism Reversible?
A fascinating piece of research here in the Daily Telegraph that has implications for the results of our EQSQ personality tests. Looking at one extreme variant of the autism spectrum, Rett Syndrome, in animal studies at least, researchers have been able to reverse the condition.
Now leave aside for a moment all of the caveats about how long this might take to become a routine treatment and so on and concentrate upon the real finding. Even though the damage to the brain and the nerves has already been done during the development stages of the fetus, such damage can still be reversed. Yes, it’s wonderful that we might find a treatment for this type of autism, but it’s that fact of the reversibility of previously thought to be permanent damage which is the huge point to note.
Now, as you know, our personality tests depends upon brain differences, ones that are thought to be caused by exposure to fetal testosterone. They’re permanent and while we can, as we have discussed, alter the training of our minds we can’t change the underlying innate talents which we are born with.
Or, perhaps, in the future, we will be able to. And isn’t that a fascinating concept: drugs to make you more empathic, or drugs that aid you in systemizing? There would certainly be a market for those going through school and college but perhaps further too. Something designed for certain types of autism, to increase empathy, would appeal greatly to those who want to increase the general emotional intelligence of the population.
February 13th, 2007 at 4:58 am
I think you may find that Autistic people don’t lack empathy more the ability to express it in a manner that other people can readily understand.
Best wishes
February 16th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Drugs to create greater empathy sound like the path to world peace, if you ask me. Rather than vaccinations, perhaps every child at birth could be given a shot of something like Empathico. Hey, that’s not a bad idea for a sci-fi novel!
Unfortunately, not a lot of government funding goes into a peace brokered on fellow-feeling. Instead, the federal dollars get spent on building machines of destruction, and, it turns out, drugs to create memory loss and, therefore, according to some folks, less empathy. Critics of some new scientific research into a drug therapy meant to combat psychological trauma describe the research as the makings of a “guilt free soldier”. Sounds like the path to doom’s day, if you ask me.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Mcewen, apologies, but around here we think that autism creates an inability (to a greater or lesser extent) to recognize the emotions of others. That’s pretty much what we think autism is in fact, that intelligence based on the theories of Simon Baron Cohen.
Millie, well, the truly guilt free human being has a name: sociopath. If people are cooking up drugs to create more, well, is “I share your concern” too weak?
The intelligence I took away from the above though was that where fetal development leads to differences in the brain, those can, at least in theory, be reversed later. To get someone back to the more normal spectrum of human responses perhaps: I’m not quite sure that Empathico is upon us yet (and also not sure it’s all that good an idea. Hey, I like being grumpy and ignoring others’ feelings!)