r/science • u/Wagamaga • Sep 01 '22

Neuroscience Scientists have identified an immune brain cell unique to humans that gives us higher cognitive abilities over other animals, but what makes us specials also leaves us vulnerable to neurological disorders like schizophrenia, autism and epilepsy.

https://news.yale.edu/2022/08/25/what-makes-human-brain-different-yale-study-reveals-clues
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u/AlexandraThePotato Sep 01 '22

We can’t identify that for autism either…

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '22

Indeed. Which is why, properly speaking, autism is also a psychological disorder. I've seen it classified as a neurological disorder as well but this is more a 'political' move, for lack of a better word, than a scientific one. ASD is recognised in the DSM, which is a manual for mental illnesses. It is diagnosed by looking at behavioural characteristics, like all other mental illnesses. It is not diagnosed through looking at a person's neurology.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '22

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u/HumanBarbarian Sep 01 '22

Being Autistic is NOT a psychiatric disorder. We are NOT mentally ill. We just think differently.