PLT Test Blog

Today we have a complex dysfunction, but we have a plausible understanding of the detailed biological underpinnings and several therapeutic options. It is relevant to people with autism who have impaired sensory gating (they find noises like a clock ticking annoying), and perhaps those who struggle with complex thought. It is very likely to be disturbed in some people with ADHD and many with schizophrenia. Trouble in the Pre-Frontal Cortex For a recap on sensory gating, here is an earlier post:- Sensory Gating in Autism, Particularly Asperger's Today’s dysfunction relates to HCN channels located on those tiny dendritic spines in a part of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex. These are a type of voltage gated potassium channel found in your brain and heart, there are 4 types, it looks to me that HCN2 is the key one today. The pre-frontal cortex (PFC) is seen as the part of the brain most affected by mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD etc.), although medicine’s current...

  A festive queue at the pharmacy for Glutamate Inhibitors We have now established that much autism and indeed other disorders, from Down Syndrome to Schizophrenia, features a degree of excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance. It is very likely that there are multiple underlying causes for this and so there may be multiple treatments.   We can even potentially use a treatment for one cause (ALS) to improve outcomes in others.   So we can (partially) solve a problem without fully understanding its origin, as frequently is the case in biology. An E/I imbalance might cause anxiety in the adult with Asperger (treatable with Baclofen), contribute to MR/ID in the child with Down Syndrome and contribute to seizures and cognitive loss in someone with severe autism. Very interestingly in the comments to a previous post, Agnieszka has pointed out why common penicillin type antibiotics (beta-lactams) improve many people’s autism.   This is very common observation and our other gu...