Cobbers on the Brain

In a study between the years of 2006-2008, it was determined that 1 in 6 American children had a developmental disability ranging from the mild to more severe. These disabilities included anything from speech and language deficits to more serious disabilities like autism. Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interactions, communication, repetitive behaviors, motor coordination, and attentiveness.
While approximately 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with some form of autism spectrum disorder, it still isn’t known exactly what is underlying this condition. Recent research has attempted to compile the best theories on autism spectrum disorder in order to more fully explain how it directly impacts developing brains.

A network of cerebral proteins and substrates that might play a role in the development of autism spectrum disorder (Won et al.)
The most recent theory concerns a problem occurring along the connections between nerves called synapses. In brains of patients with autism spectrum disorder, it was shown that there is over-connectivity of neurons locally with less neurons that stretch between brain regions to aid in communication within the brain. It is hypothesized that an imbalance of excitement and inhibition nerve impulses in the brain could be preventing correct synapse formation leading to autism spectrum disorder.

Dopamine hyperactivity in the synapse could contribute to problems in autism spectrum disorder
Regardless of its cause, genetic or environmental, autism spectrum disorder is becoming more and more common and one thing that can be done is to raise awareness and support for those who are are suffering. Until more is discovered about autism spectrum disorder, the best we can do is offer to help support families and the search for a cure.

Obesity is something on everyone’s minds these days. The days of being skinny sort of slipped away, slowly but inevitably. Fatty and sugary foods, expensive (and not as good tasting) vegetables and fruits, lack of time to cook and exercise, and stress are all major reasons for why we continue to gain weight despite small but often inconsistent attempts. Why don’t we have the willpower to just go on a diet and stick with it? Well, it could be that we don’t have the energy to exercise like we once used to have, or maybe it is because we just don’t care anymore. Whatever reason you may have been told via doctors or the internet, it was probably not entirely true.
Weight gain tends to be labeled as a bunch of bad habits, and that is a huge part of it. Lack of strength (laziness) to maintain a fitness and health plan is usually what society tells us is the reason for why we are fat. However, new research is revealing that obesity may be more of a problem of the brain than anything else. In fact, many of us may have been set up to be obese later on in life since growing in our mother’s womb, as there are brain development patterns of the child that change when exposed to high fat and sugar diets that the mother had eaten  during pregnancy. This can cause the child to crave those foods more than normal, and develop obesity as well.
The label of “brain disease” could possibly be applied to obesity because there are changes in the brain following poor diet that both harm the brain via inflammation, and change it such that there is an increased craving for fatty and sugary foods. For example, obesity goes hand in hand with insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes and more recently is being linked to Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, obesity is correlated with lower brain volume and diminished cognitive functioning compare, but is reversible with weight loss, depending on the progression of the problem. Obesity also causes leptin resistance in the brain. Leptin is a hormone in the brain that prevents hunger, so being obese turns into downward spiral for the brain because leptin resistance means the effects of leptin in the brain are being prevented and makes obese people more hungry than is necessary. This makes it harder to diet, the main way to fix the problem.
With all of the societal problems, can obesity really be considered a brain disease? It is kind of an arbitrary question, as it is both maintained by brain dysfunction caused by poor diet, but also by society: we have too much easy-to-access and unhealthy food; we also live in a fast-paced time when convenience is necessary to the point that cooking our own food is impossible or just too stressful or rushed. While the negative effects of obesity are far reaching for human health, there are many more problems that could be addressed to prevent obesity in our society.
Whatever we decide to call it, obesity is a problem that reduces our cognitive functioning and even affects our children’s futures. New drugs are being developed to target the new brain pathways discovered in obesity, so it is only a matter of time before we have that on our side.