tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post1450260071655126275..comments2024-03-14T23:52:09.893-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: Born This Way?The Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-61970918602097769592011-12-15T10:13:09.233-08:002011-12-15T10:13:09.233-08:00Thanks for your comments.
Neuroskeptic - They did...Thanks for your comments.<br /><br />Neuroskeptic - They didn't talk about the effects of the seizures (and the surgery itself) nearly as much as I would have liked. They focused on the anatomical abnormalities. The order of events in the paper was out of sequence as well. They said he had a complete resolution of seizures at age 4, then describe his bad behavior at length, and *then* tell you 3 pages later that oh, by the way, from 6-11 yrs he was having complex partial seizures.<br /><br />Kapitano - I quoted that passage verbatim because I thought it was amusing that he drew a goblin on the questionnaire (and that the authors saw fit to mention that). One might think that calling out some of his behaviors is moralizing (e.g., rude language, lack of respect for authority, certain aspects of his hypersexuality -- which, btw, can be symptomatic) but the boy crossed the line into criminal behavior (e.g., starting fires, physical assaults, sexual threats to younger peers).<br /><br />jonathan - At no time was an autism diagnosis considered. A major aspect of his behavior was being manipulative and controlling, which is well outside the range of behavior in autism.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-43924181279541771682011-12-15T06:35:00.480-08:002011-12-15T06:35:00.480-08:00I wonder if a diagnosis of autism was ruled out. ...I wonder if a diagnosis of autism was ruled out. The pathology sounds somewhat similar to what Courchesne found in autism in that the problems were also in the prefrontal areas (inflammed). I guess Brodman's area 44, which is the frontal lobe mirror neuron area, thought to be implicated in autism was not involved in this.jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972394536850151087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-71484010515595448722011-12-15T05:46:00.124-08:002011-12-15T05:46:00.124-08:00"lack of respect for authority, impaired mora...<i>"lack of respect for authority, impaired moral judgment [...] rude language, and disobedience [...] masturbation, accessing porn sites on the web [...] B.W. skipped several questions and scribbled over the entire second sheet and drew a goblin."</i><br /><br />If we <i>really</i> want to know about the relation between neurology and morality, a first step would be to stop moralising.<br /><br />I'm sure we've both seen plenty of bullshit psychological questionnaires, and the most honest response to most is indeed to scribble on them.Kapitanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14647896216499813443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-14989415962289498122011-12-15T03:47:57.172-08:002011-12-15T03:47:57.172-08:00Interesting post.
As you say, would be very inter...Interesting post.<br /><br />As you say, would be very interesting to follow him up.<br /><br />Also not clear whether the abnormal behaviours were caused by impaired function or "overactivation" coming from the seizure focus.Neuroskeptichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06647064768789308157noreply@blogger.com