Can your brain chemistry change to become more NT-like?

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Does anyone remember the movie Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams, the story of a robot who eventually becomes human?

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi767164697/

I was diagnosed in 5th grade but didn't look up the symptoms to see what it meant until recently. I'm 99% sure I have it; some people on here questioned my diagnosis and brought up other disorders I might have instead, but none seem to fit me nearly as well. Most people believe I have it. I'm going to get re-tested for it soon. Most of the ways I differ from your typical (if there is such a thing) Aspie can be attributed to my life and upbringing.

I spent my childhood oblivious to everything, but when I hit adolescence it really hit me that I was "less than normal", and although by that point most of my AS behaviors had been stomped out in blind ignorance by teachers, parents and bullies, I was still inadequate. I took pride in my linguistic skills and test-taking abilities but became extremely ashamed and depressed over most of my eccentricities. Many of you who were diagnosed earlier, or accepted your diagnosis and learned to work with it, didn't have quite the same reaction.

I feel like I've spent most of my life trying to become "normal". I never wanted to be generic, but I craved the social abilities of the popular kids, and became obsessed with improving my social skills. Not in order to become popular, in order to become "normal". I didn't think I was DIFFERENT from normal, I thought I was LESS.

Basically the progression felt like becoming Robin Williams, the human in Bicentennial Man. My Asperger's characteristics are much more subtle. I even tried to dumb down my language, but I still feel silly saying "Yo, what's good?" Jocks greet me with "Sup bro" when they used to greet me with "Hey there buddy, gimme a high five!"

With therapy, people with mental disorders can learn to think more like neurotypical individuals. I'm not sure if I've become great at emulating a neurotypical or if my brain chemistry has literally changed. The Bicentennial Man analogy isn't perfect because I'll never be 100% neurotypical; there are too many little quirks that are impossible to work on. So...do you think it's possible that I'm more neurotypical now than I was before? Do you feel as though you've gotten more neurotypical over time, or that you've just learned to maximize the potential of your Aspie brain?

I'm not asking you to diagnose me over the internet. I now realize that doing so would require me to type out my entire life story, because my environment has had a clear impact on the way I think and act.

I know that AS 'presents' itself quite differently from person to person, but I would say that in my case, I definitely have gotten better and better at interacting with the world as I get older. My diagnosing psychologist has suggested that I've developed a lot of coping skills, and (this part is my own conclusion) given the right encouragement, environment and postiive feedback I think I've come to enjoy things that I would have absolutely avoided whenever possible as a kid (ie. accepting an invitation to go out, or trying new foods).

Also, since being diagnosed with AS and being able to visit websites such as WP and read of others' experiences, I feel like I've gained a wealth of knowledge that has helped me understand AS better.

there are still some things that I absolutely won't do, like drive a car (for my safety and the safety of those around me) and answer the phone (it's never for me anyway), but I definitely no longer feel like I'm trying to swim upstream all the time.

I've read a book that you might find interesting called The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. It was the first book I've read on neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to alter itself. I'm looking forward to reading other books on the same subject in order to get a better understanding of the concept, but it was an interesting introduction to the idea.

I am more NT like now than I was when younger, but am not totally NT. Something changed at some point. I stopped being so interested in horses and suddenly, it was like, other subjects became fascinating and important. It was around the time I became interested in music, around age 13 or 14.

The more you work at something the better you get at something because you are growing new connections in your brain and making them stronger, whereas the old behaviours barely used are slowly dying.
I love neuroplasticity. Now if only I could get it to work for me.

This is why I get a bit defensive on the whole 'once you're autistic you always are because you're wired that way.' The wiring can change. The brain is not wired a certain way like previously believed - it is plastic. The autistic brain might be less plastic but changes can happen in it.

Damn you, you beat me to it. That book is my Bible, along with The Shallows by Nicolas Carr.

I get more NT as I get older.

I doubt it has anything to do with your brain chemistry. Autistic brains aren't malfunctioning NT brains; they're healthy autistic brains.

What you are doing, most likely, is learning. It's something we do every day but it's an amazing process all the same. Every time you learn something, you change who you are ever-so-slightly. Every experience you have adds to who you are. Your brain adds new connections when you learn--it physically changes. You can even see it on brain scans, if they're sensitive enough.

Learning how to communicate with NTs in their own language does change you--but not, I think, into an NT. I think it changes you into an autistic person who is more skilled at communicating in a "foreign language".

As you grow older of course you are also gathering coping skills; so the problems that used to bother you are no longer so difficult to deal with. But of course you are also taking on new responsibility, and harder challenges.

Coping skills is probably not a good way of explaing all that aspies have to gain.
If you practice something, you change neural network paths int he brain and weaken others.
With the right excerses, it is possible to become more NTs a little bit.

I am learning a new foreighn language( Spanish) I am hoping will improve the part of the brain
that is responsible for communication.

The brain doesn't just change in structure/plasticity during learning. The process of learning is mostly governed by NMDA receptors. Hebbian processes make frequently firing neurons more likely to fire again, and the firing leads to synaptic release of neurotransmitter(s). So, it actually is partially due to brain chemistry changes.

That neuroplasticity involves chemistry changes doesn't mean Autistic brains differ chemically from NT ones, I would think?

I was pointing out how learning involves chemical change in all brains, but ASD brains most certainly have some sort of neurotransmitter imbalance. Neurotransmitters are largely what drive behavior, and both structural and chemical differences have been found in practically all neuropsych disorders. At the very least, oxytocin seems to be abnormal in some way in ASDs.

I hope so. I'm not a robot, I'm already human. I just want to be a human with better social skills.

No I do not feel more neurotypical nor do I want to, that would be weird for me.

I will never become NT, ever!

Okay, it's possibly there's some chemistry differences, on average at least if not in an absolute way. But I don't think it's enough that one can become NT by brain chemistry changes alone. (If such brain chemistry changes are even possible.) I think the brain organization, the neuro-connections, would have to change as well. Such changes are possible to some degree. But it requires active effort. And I don't think the end point of would ever be being fully NT.

I wasn't saying structural changes aren't equally important. In neuroscience, defects are usually a combination of both structural and chemical abnormalities. But I DO think that biochemical factors play more of a role in psychiatric symptoms, whereas structural factors play more of a role in neurological disorders. For example, stroke deficits are always from hypoxic tissue damage, and medication cannot help. However, neuropsych disorders, whether it be from schizophrenia to ASDs, often can have the acute behavioral symptoms managed by medications that impact neurotransmitter concentrations. Other symptoms in neuropsych disorders, such as problems with executive function and memory, can't be managed with medication, as this is a cause of structural abnormalities in the PFC and other areas. This is why many schizophrenics and bipolar patients often perform poorly on neurocognitive tests, even when they aren't having an acute psychotic/mood episode.

There is an experimental hormone therapy that involves oxytocin acetate. There is also a device that apparently targets the portion of the brain that needs it. I saw a show on the aspie dude that makes guitars for Kiss and Lady Gaga. He tried it and said he had great success. I tried the hormones and they work too, but the device sounds like a better deal when it becomes available.