The Causes of Learning Disabilities: New Study Provides Some Answers

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by Merely Me
Monday, September 14, 2009

I remember when I first heard the words that my son had autism.  No sooner than the words came out of the evaluator's mouth when she began giving us a list of instructions.  "Talk to the school system to get him preschool services right away.  He will need speech therapy and occupational therapy.  Oh and you should probably visit a geneticist."  I was in shock so it seemed almost a blessing to have this checklist of activities.  But a geneticist?  I felt like everything about my son and my family was under scrutiny, even our genes. 

Many parents, teachers, and researchers ask the question of "why?" when it comes to things like learning disabilities, mental retardation, and autism.  People want to know the cause so that in the future, they may be able to prevent such things.  But the difficulty with this line of reasoning is that it is very hard if not impossible to track down just one cause. 

We did go see the geneticist and waited for over two hours with our son to hear her pearls of wisdom.  After having waited in five different waiting rooms with our stressed out son, she had this to say with long dramatic pauses between her words, "Autism... is... a murky business."  Uh huh.  Okay doc.  Well I could have told you that! 

The genetic influences of mental retardation, autism, and learning disabilities became a little less murky recently.  It seems that researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified at least one gene which may be responsible for brain development. 

The science behind this discovery is a bit complex but I will try my best to explain it in everyday language

What we call the brain is a highly specialized system of interconnected nerve cells called neurons.  In healthy brain development these brain neurons move to their correct positions to make connections to other neurons.  But during the growth process things can go wrong with how the neurons connect with one another.  One of the reasons for the brain to not develop properly is because some brain neurons did not connect properly with one another.

Why does this happen?

Finger like projections called "filopodia" are present on the neurons.  These projections are important for connecting to other neurons.  Sometimes the filopodia develop too early, before the neurons have had a chance to get into their proper position for connection.  If the filopodia grow too much, they may run into each other and block the neurons from connecting to one another.  In other words, there can be many connections leading to nowhere.  As a result the pathways between neurons are not efficient. 

It is interesting to note that people having autism or learning disabilities may be described as having gaps in their ability to learn.  Likewise, there may be gaps between their brain neurons. It makes sense to me.