Neuro-Note #1: Ted Talk on Possible Causes of Autism

ASD diagnoses have skyrocketed in recent decades, but why is this? There are many who thought vaccinations could be the cause, but the current consensus of research does not support that. In geneticist Wendy Chung's Ted Talk: "Autism - what we know (and what we don't know yet), " she seeks to delineate questions like the aforementioned one and others. She offers some possible explanation for the perceived increase in ASD diagnoses, citing broader diagnostic criteria, as well as greater professional and public knowledge of the spectrum. I certainly think that those things could have contributed to the increase in diagnosis of Autism. Next, she addresses the things that have shown a strong association with increasing the risk of Autism. Advanced paternal age, exposure to certain agents or medications in fetal life like valproic acid (a medication used to treat epilepsy,) as well as genes show a strong association with the development of autism.

Something that she said  that struck me is the 4:1 ratio of men to women in those that have autism. This difference is significant, yet we still don't know why. Another similarly intriguing fact is the concordance rate within autism. For identical twins, the concordance rate is a staggering 77 percent. Though not as high, the concordance rate for fraternal twins and siblings, which are 31 and 20 percent respectively, are still quite high compared to the estimated 1.4 percent prevalence rate that applies to the general population.

Clearly there is still a lot that we don't know about autism, and that's why I chose this Ted Talk. I know many people on the spectrum, and I am always seeking to learn more about it. This talk taught me about the concordance rate for autism, which emboldens the proposition that autism and genetics are strongly related. I thought that this video did a good job of presenting many of the patterns that have emerged in those that have been diagnosed with ASD, as well as stating what has yet to be discovered. I think anyone could benefit from watching this, given that we are all likely to know someone with autism.

References:
Chung, W. (2014, April 28). Autism - what we know (and what we don't know yet)[Video file].    Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKlMcLTqRLs&t=428s