Depending on the numbers, as per Stanovich, this also could be an illusory correlation, as per the symptoms of autism occurring close to the time of infants/toddlers receiving vaccines.
Joan [email protected] > On May 14, 2009, at 11:18 AM, Jeffrey Nagelbush wrote: > >> Has anyone heard anything about this new theory of autism and its >> possible treatment? >> >> http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp- >> documentid=100237035 > > To which Paul Brandon queried: > >>Wouldn't the appropriate term be 'hypothesis'? > > Right. And the article to which this item refers, namely > > Mehler MF, Purpura DP. Brain Res Rev. 2009 Mar;59(2):388-92. Autism, > fever, epigenetics and the locus coeruleus. > > use that word in their abstract, part of which reads: > > "Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit improved > behaviors and enhanced communication during febrile episodes. We > hypothesize that febrigenesis and the behavioral-state changes associated > with fever in autism depend upon selective normalization of key > components of a functionally impaired locus coeruleus-noradrenergic (LC- > NA) system" > > The "some children" improving during fever claim is intriguing, > especially as the MSN article claims there is now "objective research" > confirming this. Possibly they have in mind the article by Curran et al > (2007) in _Pediatrics_ where autistic children were observed during and > after recover from fever. They observed a transient calming effect on > their behaviour during fever. Of course, the trick is to distinguish this > from any non-specific effect of illness, but the authors hopefully but > cautiously note "the data suggest that these changes might not be solely > the byproduct of general effects of sickness on behavior." > > I do object to the claim in the MSN article that "Until recently, > virtually all mainstream neuroscientists and child psychologists would > have said developmental disorders such as autism cannot be reversed", the > "untill recently" presumably referring to this new hypothesis on fever. > > Ironically just a few days earlier, the same msn.com carried an article > which instead proclaimed "Study suggests kids can "recover" from autism. > It's at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30645770/ > > Stephen > > Curran, LK et al. Pediatrics. 2007 Dec;120(6):e1386-92. Behaviors > associated with fever in children with autism spectrum disorders. > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] > 2600 College St. > Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > > Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of > psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
