Autism Spectrum Disorder Analysis

Over the past four years, the rate of autism diagnosed has increased over 30%. Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which the diagnosed exhibit social and behavioral deficits. Since autism is a life-long impairment, researchers are attempting to rapidly find the causes in the hope to find a cure. It is theorized that prenatal hormone exposure could potentially result in ASD. Therefore, the prenatal hormones estradiol and dihydrotestosterone were subcutaneously injected into mother rats from the CD stand. Once the female and male rats reached post-natal day 90 or older, they were euthanized, and their brains were extracted, sterilized, and stained in order to count the neurons in the left hemisphere of the cerebellum.
Compared to the 1980`s in which 1 in every 10,000 children was diagnosed with (ASD), today 1 in every 68 children is recognized as having ASD, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“Facts about Autism”). ASD is a developmental impairment in which the effected often have difficulty socializing and communicating with others. The disorder which is thought to be caused by a gene mutation can provoke a spectrum of symptoms ranging from lack of empathy and difficulty speaking to repetitive and eerie actions such as flailing one`s arms. As the symptoms may seem like normal, childlike behavior, autism is difficult to detect until the age of two since autism is diagnosed through behavior and social development (Filipek, et. al). After diagnosis, the individual is able to take medication to help minimize the symptoms, but ASD is a life-long ailment as there is no
Estradiol is an estrogen sex hormone and is commonly consumed by women experiencing menopause or osteoporosis (Scutti). Additionally, dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT) is an androgen sex hormone that is responsible for the development of the penis and the prostate in fetuses (Newman). Both sex hormones are believed to perpetuate ASD which is thought to be linked to sex hormones. In order to test this, pregnant rats were injected subcutaneously during days 15-19 – which coincides with the second human trimester – with estradiol, dihydrotestosterone, or corn oil (which acts as a control). After the pups were born, their associative learning and cognitive mapping was tested through eye blink classical conditioning, Morris water maze, and neuronal changes in the cerebellum. It is hypothesized that the mother rats who are subcutaneously injected with the prenatal hormones estradiol and dihydrotestosterone will produce offspring that may exhibit autistic-like behavior caused by a difference in sexually dimorphic brain structure such as cognitive learning and associative