18 Apr 2012, 9:17 pm
Autism is a human condition.
This thread is ludicrous.
Take your love of cats and leave it out of the spectrum.
I am not kidding. 
19 Apr 2012, 12:00 am
Blueberrypie wrote:
Their brain is the size of a nut.
Brain size doesn't mean much. Whales and elephants have larger brains than humans -- six times as large in case of sperm whales -- but they don't appear to be more intelligent than we are.
A much better predictor of intelligence than brain size is the so-called encephalization quotient (EQ), which is based on the brain-to-body mass ratio. Species with an EQ above 1 are considered large-brained and are usually quite intelligent. The EQ of domestic cats lies between 1 and 1.71 depending on the breed. Dogs have similar EQ values btw, with an average of 1.2.
In comparison, African elephants have an EQ between 1.13 and 1.67, which means that the largest-brained cat breeds should theoretically be able to ouwit an elephant. And the EQ of Proboscis monkeys is only 1.11, which shows that cats can be brighter than some primates. After all, some large cats eat primates for breakfast
Cats are also brighter than horses, which have an EQ of 0.9. Rats, mice and rabbits are between 0.4 and 0.5.
19 Apr 2012, 12:13 am
slave wrote:
Autism is a human condition.
That's a bit like saying "blindness is a human condition". Autism is caused by poor neural connectivity between the frontal lobe and the rest of the brain, and neural overconnectivity within the frontal lobe. Since all mammalian brains have a frontal lobe and an overall very similar structure, autism can theoretically occur in all mammals. And there are indeed non-human mammals that show autistic symptoms and an autistic neurological development:
Quote:
UCLA researchers studied mice lacking CNTNAP2 and found that the animals demonstrated many features of human autism, including abnormal vocal communication, irregular social interaction and repetitive behaviors. The animals were hyperactive and suffered epileptic seizures like patients with CDFE.
...
The animals also possessed fewer nerve cells that connect the neurons that carry impulses into the central nervous system with those that transmit impulses out to the rest of the body. This finding dovetails with Geschwind's earlier research, which found that children carrying the CNTNAP2 variant possess a disjointed brain. Their frontal lobe is over-connected to itself and poorly connected to the rest of the brain. Communication with the back of the brain was particularly diminished.
...
"Our findings suggest that evolution has maintained the repetitive behaviors related to autism across species," Geschwind said. "If the same is true of social behaviors, we will use the mouse model to study potential therapies that may one day help people with autism."
...
The animals also possessed fewer nerve cells that connect the neurons that carry impulses into the central nervous system with those that transmit impulses out to the rest of the body. This finding dovetails with Geschwind's earlier research, which found that children carrying the CNTNAP2 variant possess a disjointed brain. Their frontal lobe is over-connected to itself and poorly connected to the rest of the brain. Communication with the back of the brain was particularly diminished.
...
"Our findings suggest that evolution has maintained the repetitive behaviors related to autism across species," Geschwind said. "If the same is true of social behaviors, we will use the mouse model to study potential therapies that may one day help people with autism."
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 122749.htm
Of course the fact that non-human animals can suffer from autism doesn't mean that all cats are autistic. Their social modus operandi is quite normal for their species. But a few individual cats that are unusually hyperactive and clumsy might be feline aspies
19 Apr 2012, 12:23 am
19 Apr 2012, 12:29 am
roccoslife wrote:
Cats dont mind being looked in the eyes, in fact one of their "greetings" is to look each other in the eye then slowly blink. Do it next time you see your cat, he'll most likely return the favor. Its akin to a smile to them.
Dogs on the other hand see eye contact as an act of agression.
Dogs on the other hand see eye contact as an act of agression.
I've read that a slow blink is a sign of affection. The cat equivalent of a smile is winking, which often indicates playfulness. They often return both slow blinks and winks
But if you blink too slowly, they twitch their ears as a sign of confusion.
As for eye contact, I've found that it helps when you almost close your eyes. Cats squint to indicate that they're in a sociable and friendly mood and feel safe around you. Wide open eyes signal playful attentiveness, great interest or aggression, depending on the ear position. Since they can't "read" our ear posture, they sometimes mistake our usually wide open eyes as a sign of aggression. But if you squint a bit, they know that you mean them no harm
Yawning helps too. Cats often yawn as an appeasing anti-agression gesture.
19 Apr 2012, 12:30 am
19 Apr 2012, 12:33 am
So, how exactly am I supposed to know if my cat has it? 
19 Apr 2012, 12:59 am
19 Apr 2012, 1:01 am
NoamEtedgy wrote:
So, how exactly am I supposed to know if my cat has it?
Tell it a idiom & it should reply literally.
19 Apr 2012, 2:13 am
NoamEtedgy wrote:
So, how exactly am I supposed to know if my cat has it?
Tell the cat to post a reply to this thread. If he doesn't make the effort to read the previous posts and instead repeats something that has been said before, he's probably autistic
Albirea
Veteran
Joined: 15 Mar 2011
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 9,768
Location: Cannot be determined due to excessive knowledge of momentum
19 Apr 2012, 2:37 am
19 Apr 2012, 2:51 am
A cats normal personality shares the same characteristic of that with HFA and or AS. I guess if there was an autistic cat however that would mean it would act like an NT human. 
19 Apr 2012, 3:14 am
19 Apr 2012, 3:15 am
NoamEtedgy wrote:
So, how exactly am I supposed to know if my cat has it?
Does it play WoW all day?
19 Apr 2012, 3:17 am
MotherKnowsBest wrote:
NoamEtedgy wrote:
So, how exactly am I supposed to know if my cat has it?
Does it play WoW all day?
Yeah.
19 Apr 2012, 4:16 am
I've laughed a bit reading through the responses. lol
What kind of an answer were you expecting, "yes your cat has autism"? Nobody knows. Are you worried about your cat? My cat is really social but so is the family and so am I. I think cats and dogs take after their owners.
| Similar Topics | |
|---|---|
| Hello fellow cats. |
10 Dec 2024, 9:55 am |
| How Do You Know You Are Autistic? |
19 Dec 2024, 12:15 am |
| Autistic and homeless |
22 Dec 2024, 12:33 pm |
| The Autistic Brain |
13 Dec 2024, 9:34 am |
