Cell counts in cerebral cortex of an autistic patient.
One of the first hard looks at autistic brain tissue found normal cell numbers, shifting focus to chemistry and circuits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Doctors looked at brain tissue from one adult with autism after death.
They counted neurons and support cells in three spots of the cortex.
They matched the brain to typical adult brains for age and sex.
What they found
Cell counts were the same in the autistic brain and the controls.
No extra or missing cells showed up in any sampled area.
How this fits with other research
Fatemi et al. (2014) later found fewer GABA receptor proteins in the same brain area.
The two studies look opposite, but they measured different things. D et al. counted cell bodies; Hossein counted tiny receptor proteins.
Eberhart et al. (2006) also saw no change in a different protein marker, backing the idea that cell number is normal while cell chemistry may differ.
Why it matters
You can tell parents that an autistic brain is not missing or extra full of cells. This counters old myths. When you see behavior differences, think wiring and chemistry, not brain size. Focus your teaching on strengthening pathways that exist, not on fixing what was never broken.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Numbers of neurons and glia were counted in the cerebral cortex of one well-documented case of autism and two age- and sex-matched controls. Areas in which cell counts were made were primary auditory cortex, Broca's speech area, and auditory association cortex. No consistent differences in cell density were found between the brains of the autistic patient and the control patients.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1985 · doi:10.1007/BF01531496