novel receptor targets

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I was wondering whether there are novel neural receptor targets for addressing cognitive issues in autism.
That is other than dopamine, serotonin, etc
Or is it misguided to think that a substance could address cognitive issues?

I really don't think cognitive impairment and ASD are quite the same thing.

I've played with nootropics for years and I've noticed that even finding all the right supplements, figuring out what food allergies were causing the fog, and solving for those issues, the problem is much more like an introversion vs. extroversion issue - ie. deep preference difference, deep differences in neural routing to where damage or repair won't have much to do with it unless someone genuinely had childhood brain trauma, ASD traits as a result, and technically isn't on the spectrum for the same reasons.

One thing that keeps coming up about ASD is reflexive/natural honesty. It's a bit like we at least tend more than the average person to be logical Platonists whereas the average person lives on Darwinian game theory. When a lot of us saw the anti-drug and anti-lying campaigns on TV, or were dragged to church and taught about Jesus, Mohammad, etc., about morality, we were more likely to take it seriously and live it because it was an authority structure making bold claims about the universe, if we saw adults marching around as such we assumed they knew what they were talking about, and we'd see people our own age seeming to behave in almost no accordance with the logic we were being given aside from now and again using a weaponized version of morality against each other (or us as well).

My take is that NT's have a much more tactile sense that life is a gene war or really a 24/7/365 battle for money, status, and sex, it's why there's very little open and honest communication - it's because they treat the social sphere as where they go to war against each other, and where they assess the intelligence of others most often by how covert they are in how they socialize and whether or not they know all of the code, lingoes, believe the right things to be at the right level of the status hierarchies, this is also part of where Rob Henderson's concept of luxury beliefs come from - ie. markers of high status (showing you can believe utter nonsense if you have the power to get away with it) and those same beliefs would be impossible for someone of lower status or economic means to carry.

For as much as neurological and cognitive supplements might make you better at whatever you do well, and possibly more economically prosperous as a result, they won't make you a blackbelt at weaponized BS or cutthroat social hierarchy climbing - that's something you'd need to practice a lot with or without any such supplement.

Biochemicals like gluten and gabba have been suggested. Might help.
But there are structural differences too.
You can refreeze a melted ice cube, but you can't unfry an egg.
I don't think the genetic differences which result in differences in brain structure can be reversed.
Changing biochemistry might help - but it won't be a miracle cure.
Some people think Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) helps. Some use EEG biofeedback.
I have never tried either of them.

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)

^ Tx for the Rob Henderson reference. Very interesting!

I agree with the above. We can adjust the workings to some degree but not change who we are. Following the medical model, that meds are the only way to deal with things, is a dangerous slope. There are many non medical interventions that can also help, while still not altering the fundamental nature. Use what works, discard the rest and most importantly learn to accept the way you are.

I think if anything the right kinds of low-intensity low-side-effect nootropics (like lions mane) are good for getting things out of the way that in turn help a person's mind further unfold the way the system wanted to. That's probably the best you can do, ie. decrease energy potentials for certain things to be overcome. Psychedelic microdose is a more extreme version of that effect but for those who can do it, particularly those trying to get over CPTSD, it's good for washing out accretions lets say patterns that the system really wants to vomit out but needs a certain degree of plasticity increase to actually do that.

Anything else, like forcing a pattern on a mind and reprogramming a person to be someone else, the only approximation possible for that IMHO would be something like weeks of full sensory barrage, like very specifically programmed virtual reality, heavy psychedelics or dissociatives, and really a convincing enough message for the whole system to find that the new information offered actually yields a better map of reality than the one it was already holding. Sheer propaganda probably wouldn't work unless the person's map of reality was still nascent poorly constructed, it would be far more likely to do damage as the person's other resources spent that whole time fighting it off.