Scientists find clue to why some autistics avoid hugs

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Scientists find clue to why some autistics avoid hugs

Friday, February 12, 2010, 15:34 IST

London: Scientists have found a clue in brain that may explain why people

suffering from fragile X syndrome, a condition linked to autism, do not like

hugs even from their parents.

Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have claimed

to have discovered delayed development of the sensory cortex, the part of the

brain that responds to touch, in the mice with fragile X syndrome.

Reporting their findings in journal Neuron, they said their study could help

explain why people with the condition are hypersensitive to physical contact. It

also points to key stages when treatment could be most effective, they said.

Fragile X syndrome is caused by a mutant gene in the X chromosome that

interferes in the production of a protein called fragile X mental retardation

protein (FMRP).

Under normal circumstances, the protein directs the formation of other proteins

that build synapses in the brain, the BBC reported.

For their study, the researchers recorded electrical signals in the brains of

mice, bred to mimic the condition.

They found connections in the sensory cortex in the brain were late to mature,

which may cause further problems with the correct wiring of the brain.

The study also found these changes in the brain's connections occur much earlier

than previously thought, midway through a baby's development in the womb.

PTI