Aspies For Freedom

Protective mind coating

UCLA researchers learn how a nerve-tissue wrap in the brain, myelin, impacts behavior

BY JAMIE TALAN
STAFF WRITER
NEWSDAY

November 22, 2005

Abnormal development of the protective insulation that wraps around the wiring of the brain's nerve cells could result in a range of behavioral problems - including autism, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse and schizophrenia, according to a new study.

Dr. George Bartzokis and his colleagues at the University of California in Los Angeles have studied brain scans in living humans and autopsied brains to unravel the role of myelin, the insulation material. The thicker and heavier the wrapping, the faster and more effective nerve cells can communicate.

Bartzokis is the scientist who first discovered that myelin production continues to grow throughout the first four decades, then peaks at 45 and goes down from there. "We are truly adults at our 50th birthday," he said.

In his latest study, published in Adolescent Psychiatry, Bartzokis and his colleagues map out a picture of the younger brain undergoing myelination and what can happen if those connections don't develop normally.

He believes that humans myelinate different circuits at varying points throughout life, which could explain why the brain diseases of young people are so different from those of older ones.

For instance, if myelin is disrupted early in life, basic circuits that govern language and social communication might not develop normally, hence autism.

If the problems develop in school-age children, the inability to process information fast and effectively could pave the way for attention deficits. Even later in adolescence, problems with myelin can impair a person's ability to think clearly, a common feature of schizophrenia.

So what's a brain to do?

Myelin is a fatty acid, and Bartzokis said that there may already be medicines, certain foods and fish oil supplements high in fatty acids that promote myelination. He likens it to a high-speed Internet connection. Without proper myelination, the brain "can't get online," he said.

Only vertebrates have myelin, and humans have the most - about 20 percent more than chimps. It increases the speed of transmission of information, expands the brain's bandwidth and allows the brain to go online.

The California scientist said that this finding could explain why it is virtually impossible to see any obvious brain damage in many of these developmental disorders.

"There's no dead anything on autopsy," Bartzokis said. "Those brain connections just never developed normally."

If people are working offline because of myelination problems, Bartzokis said, "it's not that they are bad or dumb. It's that they are not able to bring all of their knowledge to bear."

That's why a teenager's knowledge about the dangers of driving while drunk might not help when he or she is in a high-risk situation.

Barzokis' brain scans of healthy people from 19 to 76 show a myelination growth curve. In middle age, when myelin is on the decline, a number of new brain diseases emerge.

Genes, environmental toxins and even diet appear to influence the myelination process, Bartzokis said.

Good news for the female brain: His studies show that female brains are making better myelin, which could explain why young boys are at greater risk for problems.

Source: Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hs...mailedlink

Is there any correlation between autism and multiple sclerosis?
I have heard of a few people on the spectrum with it.

Amy, I think that common wisdom has it that multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease.  The body's adaptive immune system is geared to recognize "foreign" ("not-self") proteins (peptides, actually) that derive from bacteria, viruses, and such, and geared NOT to recognize proteins made by a person's own cells ("self").  In autoimmune diseases, a screw-up happens such that a subset of immune cells see "self" as "not-self" and destroy the proteins (myelin in the case of MS, insulin-producing cells in the case of T1 diabetes, etc.) I've never heard of a connection between autism and the immune system--autism appears to have more to do with how the brain develops--but the fact is that both immunology and neurology have a long ways to go before their respective cellular and tissue systems are understood.

: Lik Sprava. 1999 Mar;(2):91-3.


The characteristics of the psychoemotional disorders in multiple sclerosis patients studied by using the method of the multiphasic personality inventory

[Article in Ukrainian]

Mialovyts'ka OA, Gulkevych OV, Lembers'ka OP.

A total of 57 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who ranged from 15 to 58 years old (18 male patients, 39 female patients) were studied together with 10 essentially healthy persons (control group). Psychoemotional disorders in MS patients were described with the aid of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). All MS patients revealed changes in MMPI profile of personality. There were higher T-scores on the first, second, as well as sixth, seventh, and eighth scales. During the initial stages of the illness there prevail neurosis-like symptomatology presenting as depressive-hypochondriac syndrome. The degree of the pathological process in MS makes for aggravation of disorders in the psychoemotional sphere. During the advanced stages of the malady there occur autism, attempts at isolating oneself, disruption of interpersonal connections.

PMID: 10424053 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Thanks Stella, very interesting.

"A total of 57 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who ranged from 15 to 58 years old (18 male patients, 39 female patients) were studied together with 10 essentially healthy persons (control group). Psychoemotional disorders in MS patients were described with the aid of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). All MS patients revealed changes in MMPI profile of personality. There were higher T-scores on the first, second, as well as sixth, seventh, and eighth scales. During the initial stages of the illness there prevail neurosis-like symptomatology presenting as depressive-hypochondriac syndrome. The degree of the pathological process in MS makes for aggravation of disorders in the psychoemotional sphere. During the advanced stages of the malady there occur autism, attempts at isolating oneself, disruption of interpersonal connections."


I couldnt understand all of it, is it saying that even though multiple sclerosis is physical, that it was being affected by their emotional state? Or that the condition itself is affecting the mental health of the people surveyed?

I'm guessing the latter--MS is a debilitating disease in its late stages.

Does anyone have any experience of the MMPI test? I never heard of it before, is it available online?

Below is a link that has a fair bit of info (yeah Google!)

http://www.falseallegations.com/mmpi-bw.htm

I took the MMPI when I was in grad school along with a bunch of other psych profile tests --I was seeking therapy for depression--and got some intern who must have been gathering data for his research or something.  Some of the questions were problematic, partly because of the evolution of language--I remember one of the questions being: Do you like to attend gay parties? (when the test was written, 'gay' didn't mean what it means now.)

Then, the jerk never told me the results, besides that I came out as depressed (duh!) and antisocial.

It is likely misdiagnosis.

"During the initial stages of the illness there prevail neurosis-like symptomatology presenting as depressive-hypochondriac syndrome"

Perhaps the depressive-hypochondriac symptoms are because MS is difficult to diagnose.   So people are not knowing what is causing their problems and feeling frustrated with their doctors.

"During the advanced stages of the malady there occur autism, attempts at isolating oneself, disruption of interpersonal connections."

Well, becoming paralysed and losing the ability to talk might affect some people's communication skills, thus making it seem that they are autistic, that they are isolating themselves and causing problems with relationships.  

I knew a woman who had MS.  Her first symptoms were that she had a chronic cough and felt like she was choking.  She first got a diagnosis of emphysema.    Eventually she lost her ability to speak and to eat solid food.  She relied on using a keyboard device to communicate and had to drink nutrient supplements.  She could walk around quite well.  

My grandfather had AS.  At first he could not walk well, then he could not move.  Eventually he died because he could not breath well.  He could still try to talk until he died but not well.