A. Evidence of Electrical Imbalance in Autism
This entire section of my theory is the most technical and difficult. If you don’t understand everything discussed, and most people won’t, don’t worry about. Skip over stuff that makes your head hurt. As long as yet get the gist that an electrical imbalance seems implicated in autism, you will be able to move onto the next section and still follow the train of my thoughts.
1. Brief Description of Nervous System
The human nervous system, including the brain, is largely an electrical system. It functions by electrical currents passing along its wires, which are specialized cells called neurons that connect to each other at junctions called synapses. Synapses are controlled by chemicals called neurotransmitters. You have probably heard of several neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, serotonin and nor-adrenaline. These are just a few of many neurotransmitters that tune the nervous system.
Like any electrical system, such as a computer or a stereo, the human nervous system functions through the control of how electrical signals propagate through the system. This is largely controlled by neurotransmitters through their influence on neural excitation or inhibition. Every neurotransmitter is either excitatory or inhibitory. This means that they either accelerate and increase the amplification of a propagating signal or they dampen, diminish and divert the signal. Two neurotransmitters are particularly important in this regard.
Glutamate is the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter, constituting about 50% of the total volume of neurotransmitters in the brain. GABA is the brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter, constituting on average about 35% of total neurotransmitter volume in the brain. The brain maintains a very careful homeostatic balance between these two neurotransmitters, as they are both crucial to human function. Glutamate causes electrical signals to propagate through the nervous system, turning the system on and allowing for advanced functions such as consciousness, thinking, learning and memory. GABA keeps the electrical system properly tuned, channeling and restraining electrical excitation to allow normal human brain function...
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