Every spring, the Vanderbilt Brain Institute puts on Brain Blast event at Nashville Public Library for high schoolers and younger children, with various booths educating children on the wonders of the brain in fun and creative ways. Oh and the screen in the background was showing various images, including some things about autism and neurodiversity.
I learned a little bit about the politics of research during a conversation with a professor, for instance researching the dopaminergic system belongs to people studying strictly study movement disorders.
Which is a real pity really. I have wondered why that is not looked at in the context of autism. Its like the two are never considered together for autism. But disabilities like autism have so many areas involved. Like challenges in movement, is such a critical piece for autistics like me, and worth investigating. How else will we get to solutions.
This time last year, I had met with Prof Carissa Cascio during my Vanderbilt campus visit, and she had shown her copy of the Kendal textbook that awaited me in the program. Well certainly got to experience this textbook first hand this semester.
I completed the Protection of Minors Training this morning.
Why is this important - while a majority of students are not-minors, universities do cross path with thousands of children each year with all the programs they run., ~50K kids/year at Vandy, per the training.
Apparently 1:10 kids get abused (median age 9) but only 38% disclose and 90% perpetrators are known to the child. Types of abuse include physical, sexual, neglect and emotional.
When it comes to abuse, most just focus on the physical or sexual parts. I want to address childhood "abuse" in the context of disabled kids who are also subject to endless rounds of emotional abuse and neglect all through childhood. It's terribly unreported, not even acknowledged, and we carry lifelong emotional scars well into adulthood.
Here is a small example: Throughout my special education years in elementary I was moved around multiple classrooms, sometimes are many as 4 in the course of one school year. How is that not emotional abuse by teachers who openly did not want me in their classrooms and resentful of my presence. How does that make a small child feel. How it is that the very people we are supposed to trust to nurture and support us (the 98% of folks we are surrounded by), end up as the perpetuators of lifelong emotional trauma for us.
Robo: Alright team, let's get these axons where they need to go. Slit, you're up first.
Slit: Alright, alright, don't rush me. Let me just activate my molecular mechanisms real quick.
Comm: Oh here we go, Slit and his molecular mechanisms. Always showing off.
Axon: Hey, can someone explain to me what's going on?”
Robo: Don't worry little guy, we're here to guide you. Slit is going to help you navigate to your destination.
Slit: That's right. I'm Slit, named after the slit-like spaces that I bind to. Not the most glamorous name, but hey, it's better than being called "sticky" like some other proteins.
Comm: Hey, don't be dissing my molecular mechanisms. They may not be as flashy as yours, but they get the job done.”
Axon: I don't mean to interrupt, but what do you do, Comm?
Comm: Oh, me? I'm the commissure, here to make sure you cross the midline properly. But my full name is commissural neuron guidance molecule, which makes me sound like some sort of cop.
Robo: And I'm Robo, short for Roundabout. I know, I know, I sound like a robot. But hey, I'm the protein that helps guide you around obstacles and keep you on the right path.
Slit: And together, we make a great team. The protein trio of axon guidance GPS.
Axon: so I’m gonna interrupt again. But why do I need to cross the midline at all? Why do you need to guide me. What’s going on here and where am I going?”
Robo: Well Axon, to answer your earlier question about the big picture, it's all about forming the correct connections in the nervous system. The brain is made up of billions of neurons, and each neuron needs to make connections with other neurons to form a functional network. These connections allow us to do everything from sensing our environment to controlling our movements and thoughts.
Comm: And that's where we come in. We help guide axons to their appropriate targets, ensuring that the connections are made correctly. Without us, the nervous system would be a chaotic mess.
Slit: Exactly. And that's why it's so important for us to do our job correctly. Even a small mistake can lead to a misconnection that could have serious consequences for the individual.
Axon: Wow, I had no idea that I was part of such a complex process. It's kind of overwhelming.
Robo: Don't worry, little guy. We've got your back. Just trust us, and we'll guide you to where you need to go.
Slit: And who knows? Maybe someday you'll become a fully-formed neuron, making connections with other neurons and contributing to the functioning of the nervous system.
Comm: Yeah, and maybe you'll even be guiding another axon someday.
Axon: That sounds amazing. I can't wait to see where this journey takes me.
Robo: Alright team, let's get back to work. We have some important connections to make.
Axon: Wait, I have one more question. How did you all become proteins that guide axons?
Slit: Oh, it's a long story. It all started when we were just humble genes, waiting to be transcribed and translated.
Comm: And then one day, we were lucky enough to be selected to play a crucial role in axon guidance.
Robo: It's not the most glamorous job, but hey, someone's got to do it.
Axon: Well, I'm grateful for you guys. Thanks for guiding me through this crazy nervous system.
Slit: Anytime, dude. That's what we're here for.
Axon: Hey Robo, have you ever thought about what life would be like if you weren't proteins?
Robo: I can't say I have, Hey Slit and Comm. Do you want to be something else?
Slit: I don't know, maybe a neurotransmitter or something. Imagine how cool it would be to transmit information between neurons.
Comm: And I could be a transcription factor in a different system altogether. I could be regulating gene expression in a plant or something.
Robo: Oh come on, you guys. We're perfectly happy being proteins that guide axons. Let's not get too carried away with these fantasies.
Slit: Fine, fine. But you have to admit, it would be pretty cool.
Comm: Now let's get back shaping the intricate architecture of the nervous system. Lots of traffic to manage.
Poem follows Prof Mark Wallace's comment in class "The Brain is a giant prediction machine" after a discussion on the growing popularity of Bayesian Statistical Models in research.
The brain is a giant prediction machine
Bayesian model-like, it constantly schemes
Past experiences and memories in its grasp
Current sensory input, processed in a flash.
Ameliorating Hemianopia with Multisensory Training (Rowland et al., 2023)
Will it bring success to my quest?
Simply stated, my answer is yes
Battling through the constant stress, through days, months, years of duress
Though now life may seem like a mess, the quest is not to be the best,
Prioritize self-care, remember to rest
Is it worth it, when all I see, are cloudy skies up over me?
Yes I say, the world will see, what's possible with a degree,
The journey to a PhD is sprinkled serendipity,
But even more importantly, be free to show YOU empathy!
Hari,
Above all you are my friend, one that will be there 'til the end,
Remember I am here for you, day in, day out, through and through.
Last semester was systems neuroscience, this semester is cellular neuroscience.
What's interesting is the way the course is organized. It's very different from what I'm used to. Every week we get a different professor teaching the class on a different topic followed by a Friday quiz on that topic. Of course the other parts are there like a midterm, final and a class presentation. While the class feels a bit disjointed with a new professor this week (autism & change are not the best of bedfellows), its also kinda cool to be taught a topic by a someone researching that area specifically. They know the topic absolutely inside out. But the quizzes are tough!!
Wk1: Electrophysiology : This week was Bioelectricity of Neurons with Jerod Denton (Anesthesiology). After all, electrophysiology forms the basis of how the nervous system works, it determines how we interact with our environment, how we process that information in the nervous system and how we respond (hopefully appropriately?). And I loved how he said we should be so comfortable with it that we can strike up a casual conversation on the topic at the next VBI (Vanderbilt Brain Institute) meet.
A lot of material is covered in each class. Interesting, a maze and tough all at once.
Implications for autism. Application and interventions is my big thought always.
I think by now it is pretty established that there are glitches in multisensory processing in autistics.
Past studies indicate TBW (Temporal Binding Window) larger in autistics - individual cortical columns were strong, but not talking to columns in other domains.
I want to highlight that this paper says that this balance between distributed vs local information can be a tool to explore differences in multisensory processing. The paper also goes on to say that this can be used to develop effective interventions aimed at improving performance on tasks requiring coordination between different sensory modalities.
So how exactly can we start to do this. What kind of experiment design can we set up so that we get to big goal of interventions. Do we first check for what regions of the brain are involved in autistics, while we do a task.
