By Angela Bonsu
Scientists have found that boys with autism have larger than average brains with 67% more neurons in their prefrontal cortex than boys without autism. The prefrontal cortex is thought to play a role in complicated behaviour such as the expression of personality and emotion, decision-making, and governing appropriate social behaviour.
The increased number of neurons in autistic brains is significant because neurons in almost all brain regions are generated before birth. Thus this suggests that either there is an overproduction of these cells while the children are in the womb, or that there is a less-than-average programmed death of these cells after birth to regulate cell numbers.
The results of this study will now need to be followed up to see if the effects are seen in further studies. If confirmed, then this will make it less likely that environmental factors after birth such as vaccination could be implicated in autism.
