Treatment of children with autism in the 1960s included shock therapies and many different psychotropic drugs. The results were bad: there was no positive change in those children although the treatments were occasionally maintained for years. Under these circumstances, more powerful drugs were sought and a new substance was considered: lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD […]
Sexual differences in the human brain, both in structure and function, have a high scientific interest and a clear social impact. In the biological part because of the different susceptibility of both sexes to some developmental disorders such as autism — four times more frequent in males than in females — , and also to […]
A key aspect of our effort to overcome autism is to get a quick, reliable and early diagnosis. Typical signs such as difficulty in making eye contact or following the mother’s pointing gesture are usually observed after the age of two years and we also have the problem of the natural variability that exists in […]
The neuronal membrane, like membranes surrounding other cells, is mainly formed by a lipid surface impermeable to ions. It is only through ion channels, small protein pores embedded in the membrane, that ions can cross, allowing electrical current to charge or discharge the neuron. The inclusion of ion channels in a membrane, determines its electrical […]
One of the priority objectives in autism research is to have a biological marker that allows early, rapid and reliable diagnosis. In the past year there have been several important studies that identified children with autism at ages as early as 6 or 12 months measuring volumetric changes in various regions of the brain or […]
The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional reference originally inspired by the dietary patterns of Greece, Southern Italy, and Spain in the 1940s and 1950s. The main components of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products […]
Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind and body characterized by altered consciousness, relatively repressed sensory inputs, inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles, and reduced interactions with surroundings. We spend around one third of our lives sleeping although why we sleep is still theme of debate. Sleep seems to assist animals with improvements in […]
Nature is one of my favourite places to look for scientific-related answers. As life did start roughly three billion years ago, it has been encountering endless difficulties that needed to be solved in order to prosper. To make things even more complicated, living organisms had to get adapted in multiple different ways because of the […]
Charles Lullin knew that the figures and people he was seeing were illusions. It was 1759, Charles Lullin was almost ninety years old and he had lost most of his vision: he was still able to distinguish some objects but he was not able to read or write. A servant used to read him the […]
Predation is a biological interaction between a hunting organism, the predator, and another organism that is hunted, the prey. Predators may hunt actively for prey in pursuit predation, or sit and wait for prey as in ambush predators. In all cases, it is a complex behavior requiring honed skills and perfect and fast coordination among […]