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This is a phenomenal discovery and treatment could consist of both increasing the space for the brain or decreasing the mass of the brain. Would be super cool

This is a phenomenal discovery and treatment could consist of both increasing the space for the brain or decreasing the mass of the brain. Would be super cool if there could be found a way to enlarge the skull size during growth to have enough space for that special autism brains.

orlp 2y ago
> and treatment could consist of both increasing the space for the brain or decreasing the mass of the brain I'll pass, thanks.
lmz 2y ago
Or early abortion if it's detectable in utero.
- yareal 2y ago
  The term for this is "eugenics", and it's generally considered a negative.
  - lofenfew 2y ago
    If its not genetic, which autism isn't, then it has nothing to do with eugenics. People have the right to choose how they raise children, trying to dictate that is much more similar to eugenics imo
    - yareal 2y ago
      Autism is considered primarily genetic and it's inheritable. What we don't yet understand is the complex set of genetic interactions that result in ASD. Here's one study: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2215632120 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2215632120 but there are dozens if not hundreds more like this. Your claim that ASD is not genetic is extraordinary and counter to the prevailing scientific understanding, and requires significant evidence to back up.
  - lmz 2y ago
    They do it for Down's Syndrome. I don't see why not do it for this too if possible.
    - yareal 2y ago
      That's... complicated. There are multiple opinions about aborting fetuses that test positive for Down's syndrome. For one, the tests aren't always accurate. For two, people with Down's syndrome can live fulfilling lives, and have spoken out against the practice. But also it does place an additional burden on parents, and parenting well is already a hard job. But I don't think it's a reasonable comparison -- autism has a much wider variability in how it expresses, from relatively benign (but still impactful) to fully incapable of self sufficiency. I'd also argue just because we practice eugenics in case makes it ok to generalize to other cases (and furthermore, just because we practice it doesn't necessarily make it ok even in that case).
      - lmz 2y ago
        Re: Down's case "not necessarily ok" People abort babies for reasons far less than "lifelong disability requiring constant care". I'm not saying it's done lightly but surely that kind of issue is as valid a reason as any.
        yareal 2y ago
        I'm pro abortion, I think it's reasonable for a parent to say, "I'm not equipped to deal with this". But I'm also extremely sensitive to people saying, "an entire category of person like me is disappearing due to eugenics". I think it's important to understand and acknowledge the tension between those two positions and recognize that it's not a simple problem.
- chownie 2y ago
  It wouldn't be hacker news if I didn't casually scroll through a medical thread and see the worst take worded in a horribly tactless way. Just curious, would you feel comfortable if someone gleefully told you that from now on people like you will no longer be permitted to survive birth?
  - lmz 2y ago
    If my kid was going to end up something like this guy's here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40602866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40602866 I would prefer to be forewarned.
robwwilliams 2y ago
Sorry, I disagree. This is more a technical PR piece than real science.
clolege 2y ago
Yeah I'm curious if the negative effects of autism could be due to the brain physically running out of space and getting "compressed?" It reminds me of trepanation, the old-school mental health procedure to just drill a hole in the skull. Some people still do it and swear by it [0], saying that it relieves pressure. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202909/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202909/
- zeroonetwothree 2y ago
  Autism is a sensory processing disorder in which your brain receives too much stimulus. This it makes sense it would occur when you have too many neurons (or connections) as that would cause increased response to any external stimulus. It’s not because of “skull pressure”
  - clolege 2y ago
    Well, it seems logical that any "overgrowth" would need more space - but it looks like our skulls are malleable and continue to fuse into adulthood. I wonder if there's a process where they grow to the size needed by the brain? TIL that our heads grow by about ~8% (in circumference) after we're tweens [0]. Cool! [0] https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/head-circumference-chart https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/head-circumferenc...

orlp 2y ago

> and treatment could consist of both increasing the space for the brain or decreasing the mass of the brain I'll pass, thanks.

lmz 2y ago

Or early abortion if it's detectable in utero.

yareal 2y ago
The term for this is "eugenics", and it's generally considered a negative.
- lofenfew 2y ago
  If its not genetic, which autism isn't, then it has nothing to do with eugenics. People have the right to choose how they raise children, trying to dictate that is much more similar to eugenics imo
  - yareal 2y ago
    Autism is considered primarily genetic and it's inheritable. What we don't yet understand is the complex set of genetic interactions that result in ASD. Here's one study: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2215632120 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2215632120 but there are dozens if not hundreds more like this. Your claim that ASD is not genetic is extraordinary and counter to the prevailing scientific understanding, and requires significant evidence to back up.
- lmz 2y ago
  They do it for Down's Syndrome. I don't see why not do it for this too if possible.
  - yareal 2y ago
    That's... complicated. There are multiple opinions about aborting fetuses that test positive for Down's syndrome. For one, the tests aren't always accurate. For two, people with Down's syndrome can live fulfilling lives, and have spoken out against the practice. But also it does place an additional burden on parents, and parenting well is already a hard job. But I don't think it's a reasonable comparison -- autism has a much wider variability in how it expresses, from relatively benign (but still impactful) to fully incapable of self sufficiency. I'd also argue just because we practice eugenics in case makes it ok to generalize to other cases (and furthermore, just because we practice it doesn't necessarily make it ok even in that case).
    - lmz 2y ago
      Re: Down's case "not necessarily ok" People abort babies for reasons far less than "lifelong disability requiring constant care". I'm not saying it's done lightly but surely that kind of issue is as valid a reason as any.
      - yareal 2y ago
        I'm pro abortion, I think it's reasonable for a parent to say, "I'm not equipped to deal with this". But I'm also extremely sensitive to people saying, "an entire category of person like me is disappearing due to eugenics". I think it's important to understand and acknowledge the tension between those two positions and recognize that it's not a simple problem.
chownie 2y ago
It wouldn't be hacker news if I didn't casually scroll through a medical thread and see the worst take worded in a horribly tactless way. Just curious, would you feel comfortable if someone gleefully told you that from now on people like you will no longer be permitted to survive birth?
- lmz 2y ago
  If my kid was going to end up something like this guy's here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40602866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40602866 I would prefer to be forewarned.

robwwilliams 2y ago

Sorry, I disagree. This is more a technical PR piece than real science.

clolege 2y ago

Yeah I'm curious if the negative effects of autism could be due to the brain physically running out of space and getting "compressed?" It reminds me of trepanation, the old-school mental health procedure to just drill a hole in the skull. Some people still do it and swear by it [0], saying that it relieves pressure. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202909/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202909/

zeroonetwothree 2y ago
Autism is a sensory processing disorder in which your brain receives too much stimulus. This it makes sense it would occur when you have too many neurons (or connections) as that would cause increased response to any external stimulus. It’s not because of “skull pressure”
- clolege 2y ago
  Well, it seems logical that any "overgrowth" would need more space - but it looks like our skulls are malleable and continue to fuse into adulthood. I wonder if there's a process where they grow to the size needed by the brain? TIL that our heads grow by about ~8% (in circumference) after we're tweens [0]. Cool! [0] https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/head-circumference-chart https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/head-circumferenc...