AS and Epigenetics

Post Reply New Topic

A while back I was watching a seminar by Dr. Gabor Maté, in which he went on to discuss the ever controversial topic of "nature vs nurture". He went on to say that nothing is genetically programmed and having a predisposition is not the same as a predetermination. He points out that our environment can change gene expression while our brains are still developing. I know AS is genetic, but I really wonder if epigenetic influence plays any part, since so much is still unknown.

Any thoughts on this?

Aspergers is definitely a epigenetic condition. I believe that it is something that people are just born with. I don't think parental care after birth usually causes aspergers/autism. There was once a myth that certain immunizations led to autism but the theory has been disproved. How a person is raised determines how a person acts with autism but I doubt that it is caused by parenting issues. The only thing that might cause the expression of Autistic genes would be prenatal stress or other issues early in pregnancy. I have heard that prenatal stress and alcohol use have caused developmental issues in babies but I have never heard of these conditions causing Autism. Autism genetics is something I'm very interested in researching after high school.

i should probably look more into exactly what was said and its context, but based simply upon those words, they strike me as incredibly stupid. i like to take extreme examples to illustrate points, for example we share a common ancestor with cabbage as we do all life on earth. And yet people are very different from cabbage. Genetic programming has very real and precise effects, relatively speaking, because cosmically our entire planet is an infinitesimally insignificant spec of startdust, but THAT is a tangent.
sure predisposition has some use as an idea, as some genes create structures that set things in motion but do not guide them step by step. But say we know which is which seems silly to me.

And i think it is silly that the brain is treated as of fundamentally different from other organs. Your circulatory system does one thing, it does not deviate, it is essentially a robotic system, excepting the fact that engineered robotics would be constructed of more durable components. And yet the tissue in your skull, it is special, this is the seat of 'choice' and nothing is set in stone there.

im pretty sure i misinterpreted what was actually meant to be dicussed here, but there you have my word vomit, loosely based upon other words typed by other finger . . . blegghh

Epigenetics almost certainly plays a role, although I think that Gabor Mate uses epigenetics to push a particular anti-modern perspective about ADHD, autism, and other disorders diagnosed in children. His argument feels like it's heading toward a variation of the "refrigerator mothers" theory, only applied to more than just autism.

Just because our differences emerge a few molecular interactions distant from DNA doesn't invalidate genetics, or offer any inspiration for minimising their effects on our lives. There may be a dozen or two different DNA encodings that can result in the failure to boot of an embryonic theory of mind.

Yes, I am afraid you misinterpreted what was meant to be discussed here. You took the context and completely diverged to another realm. Don't worry, I have been guilty of doing this at times.

This is one of my special interests, so the thread has pulled me in. I'm most interested in diet and it's effect on the health of different populations. Some people appear to be pre-disposed to certain conditions, but what they eat may determine whether they develop the condition or not. I hate the notion that a healthy diet consists of X, Y and Z, which often includes things which a lot of people just should not touch. We are all different and diet tailoring is essential.

The GFCF diet springs to mind. This intrigues me as a lot of people swear by it. I've had some success by eliminating dairy. In my daughter's case, her hyperactivity has subsided and her general demeanour has improved. She's less ADHD-like. The possible AS (she doesn't have a diagnosis yet) is still there, but it's mainly the positive traits that can be observed, which is a good thing.

I have a lot of thoughts on this in my head, but I find it quite difficult to put into words, without writing a book. But, I think a lot more research is needed in this area.