Autism: A Physiological Perspective Essay

2.The basic cell that makes up the nervous system and which receives and sends messages within that system is called a neuron.

As well as these there are also the axon of the cell which is covered in myelin sheaths which carried information away from the cell body and hands the action potentials, these are small short bursts of change in the electrical charge of the axon membrane through openings of ion channels, off to the following neurons dendrites through terminal buttons at the end of the axons. Whenever an action potential is passed through these terminal buttons it releases a chemicals that pass on the action potential on to the next neuron through the terminal button and dendrite connection. The chemicals that are

To send a message, a neuron will send a ripple of electrical energy down its axon. This ripple is called "action potential." The way it works is by changing the chemical makeup of the axon's negatively charged interior. Positively charged sodium ions move into the cell and negatively charged potassium ions move out, then the ions move to their original positions. This produces a wave of positively charged

Autism is a syndrome that is characterized by the impairment of social interaction skills, verbal and nonverbal communication, and a decreased interest in participating in a variety of activities. In 1943, Kanner, the man who is attributed with the identification of this disease, hypothesized that autism might be a biological disorder as opposed to a psychological one. Numerous studies have been conducted supporting Kanner’s hypothesis. These studies have ranged from examining the effects of rubella to investigating certain purine metabolic disorders as possible etiological agents. Recently, the areas of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and genetics have played a crucial role in developing a clearer picture into

In this paper, I will be discussing the disorder of Autism, a sever disorder that affects the function of the brain. It causes problems in such areas as social contact, intelligence, language and speech impediments, along with ritualistic or compulsive behaviors, as well as different responses to the environment that an autistic individual may have different than individuals not having autism would exhibit. I will be discussing generally about the history and description of autism. Also I will be discussing the charactistics that mark an autistic individual, the actual treatment that an autistic person may receive, risk factors that an autistic person may encounter, and interventions/treatments activities that an individual who has autism may take part in. I feel that by doing all of this that I will gain a greater sense of understanding for individuals with autism. I will be giving this information to you by going through each topic that I have outlined in the introduction and explaining what each means and how they affect an individual with autism.

An action potential travels down the axon of the presynaptic neuron; once the action potential reaches the axon terminal synaptic vesicles migrate toward the synapse. They then release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. The

The brain and the distinct parts have countless duties but one of the utmost vital ones is assembly and retain new memory. In the Brain… it says, “Structures within the temporal lobe, a region of the brain near your ears, are responsible for different types of learning.” Page 5. The temporal lobe aids learning and saves the information that can be used later. Learning is key to help humans and animals to survive and thrive. Learning allows living beings to be able to do old tasks and new tasks. “… The hippocampus gathers all of the sensory aspects of the event and conducts soon initial processing of these sensory elements into a neurological format that elements that are not completely understood.” Said in the Brian, page 6. The hippocampus keeps a

The nervous system operates using an electrochemical process (see Video Clip: The Electrochemical Action of the Neuron). An electrical charge moves through the neuron itself and chemicals are used to transmit information between neurons. Within the neuron, when a signal is received by the dendrites, is it transmitted to the soma in the form of an electrical signal, and, if the signal is strong enough, it may then be passed on to the axon and then to the terminal buttons. If the signal reaches the terminal buttons, they are signaled to emit chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which communicate with other neurons across the spaces between the cells, known as synapses.

The hippocampus is part of the limbic system that controls the emotions and autonomic nervous system. The hippocampus controls long-term and short-term memory. It is located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain behind the Amygdala (Hayhurst, 2002). The hippocampus links memory and emotion together,

Neurons communicate with each other through an electrochemical process in three steps (Stufflebeam, 2008). An electrical impulse will travel down the axon to axon terminals. This causes the vesicles to open and neurotransmitter molecules are released into the synaptic gap. Neurotransmitter molecules then cross the synaptic gap and enters the receptor sites located on the dendrites of the receiving neuron. The information is carried along axons and dendrites because of changes in electrical properties which we call action potential. An action potential is initiated when a messenger attaches itself to a receptor. This occurrence causes an electrical signal to be triggered and is generated through the neuron. Once the signal reaches the end of an axon, which is at the end of a neuron, a neurotransmitter molecule will return to the synaptic gap where they are received by the sending neuron and the process is repeated or are destroyed by enzymes (Griggs, 2014, p. 41-45).

* Memories: Brain stores short-term memories of the experience in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, then those memories are later “consolidated” and transferred to another part of the brain, more precisely in neocortex, for a long-term storage;

The believed etiology of autism was unknown and not made clear. This may be one of the reasons why the paper by Andrew Wakefield was so popular among the general public. It inspired belief that vaccinations were to blame for autism, and that parents could prevent their child from developing autism by avoiding vaccinations. As autism’s main or collective causes remain unknown, some of the parents of autistic children have attempted to shift blame from their perceived own wrong-doings, and onto anything else.

Autism can be defined as “a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication” (Wumedicalcenter.com, 2017). An alternative explanation for this is that an autistic child has trouble communicating and understanding other people’s emotions and expressions. Since a significant amount of a child’s brain is developed within in the first few years of life, this causes problems later due to lack of understanding of what observed. They can have trouble expressing their feelings “with words or through gestures, facial expressions, and touch” (WebMD, 2017).

Human brain consists of billions of cells interconnected together, with each performing its separate functions. It consists of two explicit categories of nerves: neurons and glia cells. Neuron is a single nerve cell in the entire nervous system; which is electrically excitable cell that carries information after being processed via chemical or electrical signals. One of its key characteristics is that it does not undergo cell division. In addition, it maintains a voltage gradient for all the neurons across its membranes. Glia cells, on the other hand, its functionality is to maintain homeostasis.

Nerve cells generate electrical signals to transmit information. Neurons are not necessarily intrinsically great electrical conductors, however, they have evolved specialized mechanisms for propagating signals based on the flow of ions across their membranes.