Category Archives: Neurology

Let’s Talk About: Modes of Thought: “Blind” Mind

Way back when, I wrote two posts on imagination and modes of thought. Well, my Dad tends to read the BBC, and when he sees an interesting article on there, he tends to share it with the family. Early this morning he found one that has a very definite link to what I was talking about in those two posts. It’s about the fact that there are some people who are unable to visualize anything; it’s called “aphantasia”.

This man had no idea his mind is ‘blind’ until last week

Read on for my thoughts

A Genetic Link to Autism Found? Sceptical.

Okay, I’m playing the sceptic very strongly here.

Vathara told me about an article on Science Daily on Friday that claimed that they’ve found a definite genetic link to autism that doesn’t involve Fragile-X (which is more linked to intellectual delay/disability than autism directly). According to the Science Daily article, and the abstract of the article it’s taken from, it involves a mutation in the CHD8 gene that results in GI tract issues, insomnia, macrocephaly (large heads and wide-set eyes), and being on the autism spectrum. Okay.

Why am I sceptical? Read on.

Let’s Talk About: Modes of Thought – Followup

This post is a followup to Let’s Talk About: Imagination and Modes of Thought. Partially because while I wasn’t entirely wrong about my “mode of thought”, I wasn’t exactly correct about it either; and partially because there’s a new Tumblr blog out there called “Autistic Thinking” that I recently stumbled across. The aim of the Autistic Thinking blog is to: “[describe] the different and possibly unusual patterns of thought and perception experienced by autistic people of all types. It’s meant to show how diverse we actually are, compared to the simplified ideas other people have of us”, to quote the blog description. And reading it, I got inspired to write this post, because of my recent ruminations about how exactly I do think.

Want to read my thoughts on this? Go on! 🙂

Recommendation: Wiring the Brain- The Genetics of Emergent Phenotypes

I mentioned this blog post in my post on “Autism Speaks: I Want to Say”, but I think it deserves its own post recommending it.

The Genetics of Emergent Phenotypes, on Wiring the Brain.

Continue for details, or just click the link above!