Welcome to From the Spectrum Podcast. This is a podcast about autism. It is my goal to explain
what is autism. I plan to use a mixture of scientific literature, personal experience,
and opinion. With opinion, I will explain why, I fill the way I do, and give examples. I will
provide links to various references for each episode. For each episode, we will discuss various
aspects of autism. For today's episode, we will need two things. One, it's critical thinking,
and two, it's curiosity. I cannot help but to wonder why autism just appears in society. I can't
help to think about what people think is causing autism. I can't help but to play a game of tug
of war with Barb Wire. For today's episode, I can't help but to expand on implications to
embryogenesis, neuroectoderm, the genetic lineage, and tying these to one common environmental factor
that is proven to be significant to human biology. I will tie other health implications
things seen across societies and across the lifespan. For today's episode, we will cover the
cause of autism. The question that needs to be asked, do you know about the energy in light?
Light is an electromagnetic strip. The second question is, do you know how living organisms on
earth use this energy? These are facts. The power grid dates back to 1880s. The World's Fair
event in Chicago was 1893. Those lights were incandescent. More on that later. Dementia,
studied by Alois Alzheimer's. First patient was 1906. Alzheimer's disease first named in 1910.
Rates of type 1 diabetes are increasing. And the age of onset has kind of shifted. Previously,
it was referred to as juvenile diabetes. But now, it's not uncommon that adults get diagnosed with
type 1 diabetes. At one time, type 1 diabetes was associated with a lot of sugar intake,
carbohydrates, eating things like candy and being obese. But this is largely false.
Autism, our subject, you know, was first observed in 1938. The rates of obesity are increasing.
The rates of type 2 diabetes increasing. Sometimes, those are related. Or scientifically speaking,
type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's can be a sequela to obesity. However, obesity is not required.
Degenerative conditions are alarming too. But all of these conditions tied together and mentioned
are alarming. Developmental delays and intellectual disabilities are increasing. The so-called
attentional and hyperactivity are increasing. Mood disorders too, especially at younger ages.
Society's answer, because it is comfortable to them, is increasing support in schools. Often,
you will hear, we don't have enough providers or services. Those comments lack critical thinking.
Those are stimulus response comments. Spoken words to return the speaker to comfort,
to homeostasis. This is not the answer. This does not explain the problem. This does not fix
the root cause. In addition, cardiovascular diseases, or CVD, are alarming and still a
common cause of death. A majority of society, especially above the age of 40, is on a certain
type of medication. Yet, leading causes of death are still CVDs. Same scenario as earlier. Not the
answer. Doesn't explain the problem. Does not hit the root cause. Okay, let's go back to development.
We've discussed genetic implications. Even the known common genetic implications tie to autism.
If you have these, it does not mean the individual has autism. Why are those conditions connected?
And why are they connected to the light source? Remember, the brain and skin are connected long
before birth. This creates our complex nervous system. This is in the embryo. From the moment,
the first cell divides. The moment embryogenesis begins. All the way to death. Let's paint this
picture in a linear graph. A cell divides is the beginning, the beginning of the human. The moment
the individual passes. This is a linear timeline. At some point, autism exists on this timeline.
Now, one. 100 years ago, autism did not exist. At least, it was not recognized in literature.
A side note. Remember Leo Kanner mentioned in 1938, the first observation. And these were roughly
8 to 10 year olds. Same for Hans Asperger's. So roughly 1930 or so, for the birth. It's possible.
Autism existed at smaller scales. Let's say in the 1920s or so. But that is not so important to
our conversation. What is important is autism just magically shows up in human evolution.
And two. Decade over decade, rates are increasing. Now, the moment autism begins on that linear
timeline is early in development. Be it in the embryo or just after birth. We reviewed altered
salience brain connectivity at six weeks old. The crucial consideration is, autism is new and
follows the trends of those earlier mentioned conditions. Crucial in development are. Well,
there are many crucial biological components for development. Some regions of interest for our
conversation are vitamin A, various vitamin B's, vitamin D, the aromatic amino acids,
histidine, water, melanin, melanopsin, pro-opio-melanocortin, or pom-C for short. And light, of course.
And light. These are all crucial for our conversation. In addition to the genetic lineage and what we
know about heritability, we also need to consider the environment the mother is in during pregnancy.
This is crucial and it's shown. It is a worthy consideration about how the light is a primary
environmental factor when people discuss environmental factors. The environment of the
pregnant woman is also different from 100 years ago or 150 years ago. DNA is a magnetic strip and
codes for proteins. Proteins are wide band gap semiconductors. For reference, see Albert St.
Georgie's. When the magnetic footprint changes, implicated, it changes the light. It changes the
power, function of our cells, because it changes the charge. Atoms and oxidated stress is this,
is a cause. Humans use roughly 20 amino acids. Remember, these are proteins. These 20 amino
acids are responsible for tens and tens of thousands of different proteins based on unique
sequencing. Various elements from the periodic table and water and melanin and light are the
components. Look at a periodic table. We use some, but not all. This powers or energizes our cells.
So we use some of the elements from the periodic table, water, melanin and light. The aromatic
amino acids receives light and targets various elements such as calcium, magnesium and sodium.
Light is underestimated. Light is the only change. Light is the only change. One, a shift from the
light source. Previously, it was more sunlight. Now, we have the ability to light the environment
with artificial light. And we can extend the day under artificial light. And to the type of light
from incandescent to the modern day LED and tech light. You know, children, especially at extremely
young ages, have access to technology. And we can see, we know that children, young age, are right
on top of the technology on the screen. The younger and developing brain is more implicated to this.
And this is true. Now, by the time the child has access to this blue light and this tech, this
technology, autism likely already exists. It's already manifested in the biology of that individual.
However, what is the purpose here is blue light or modern light more generally implicates our
biology. It's not so much autism occurs directly for that individual with the exposure to the blue
light. It's more, this is more the lineage. This is more generational. Now, autism around 1938 was
first discovered. And the light sources remember 1880. And then the power grid 1893. So this is,
we've discussed this, this is just a couple of generations. So that makes sense for the lineage
that hand me down of this biological implication. Blue light dehydrates cells, whereby, something
called a TCA cycle is implicated. This involves cellular respiration and some oxidation. This
was discovered by a Nobel laureate, Hans Krebs. You know, mitochondria. This is occurring in the
mitochondria, more on mitochondria later. But the TCA cycle generates ATP. Now, if mitochondria is
the energy source for the cell, it's the ATP that's creating this. Mitochondria absorbs light. Light
is a major source of energy here. Various wavelengths. We'll discuss longer wavelengths in
the red light later. But shorter wavelengths are here too. And melanin and some elements from the
periodic table. All cells, except for bacteria, have the TCA cycle. In addition, water is a main
factor here. Water is commonly known as being a part of the human body. This is occurring at the
mitochondria metabolism. However, not common is the knowledge of the role water has and the
differences of water. In mitochondria, there are cytochromes. Cytochromes are proteins. Specifically,
cytochrome C1 or cytochrome 1 transfers electrons during phosphorylation. Phosphorous, iron and
sulfur are huge here. But not to be overlooked is light. Cytochromes receive light. Specifically,
red light and near infrared and infrared light. They are red light chromophores. This is a part
of the oxidation process. This involves an enzyme called cytochrome C oxidase. It turns oxygen
into water. And we will talk more about this through the episode. But this generates the ATP
that is most commonly known when we think about mitochondria. The P is phosphate. Phosphate is
phosphorous and oxygen. You're going to see oxygens playing a huge role here in cell health. And
probably lastly, because this is getting in depth, but phosphate is a type of ion, adene ion,
whereby it has more electrons than protons. Okay, last thing here. And just all of that
explanation, all of that build up just to say this, mainly just to say this. Modern light
dehydrates cells whenever it's just isolated to blue light. Now think about the embryo and that
cell dividing and cell differentiation and migration development and the complex living
organism coming to life, coming into life form. We know autism develops early, probably within
the embryo, probably. But even after birth, postnatal, all of these things are huge. When cells
function, whenever they are functioning properly, this is a very dynamic structure, a very dynamic
operation, I should say, whereby it's using energy from the environment, like such as the light,
and it uses the periodic elements and is creating energy. This could be the most important thing
in the whole episode right here. This is instead of adding something to the biological processes,
such as pesticides or vaccines or whatever it is that we want to add to the components of the
biological processes. Let's just take the normal biological processes, these normal ingredients
or components that we've discussed, such as the light, the periodic elements, the water, and so
forth. And let's just change that. Let's just change one and see what it does to development and
our cell functioning and our nervous system. Autism is a form of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity,
we've changed, autistic people have changed based on the environment that they are in. And I think
this is what's happening. Neuroplasticity is not limited to learning something new, such as
knowledge or learning a new motor skill. Yes, that's neuroplasticity, but there are more complex
types of neuroplasticity. Perhaps the most fascinating one is people that are blind will
repurpose their visual cortex for the Braille reading. That's the type of neuroplasticity
that we need to discuss and consider. Autism is an example of that type of neuroplasticity,
whereby the living organism changed because something in the environment. Just know this,
humans can harm themselves unlike any other species. We have, you've heard me say, never underestimate
a human's capacity to think. This has a chance to be good and it has a chance to be bad, an
infinite amount of good and bad. Somewhere along the line, we have to recognize that we can do harm
to ourselves, maybe even indirectly. Of course. Remember, you know I've said the nervous system
just wants to respond. It doesn't want to work. Now carry that out a little downstream to our
behaviors. I don't think this is all that complicated. If this environmental factor,
this environmental component that gets little attention can implicate cells like this, just
imagine what it's doing in the embryo and through the lifespan, such as with the Alzheimer's and
dementia. Now, innocence will happen. Yes, we can normalize for this. We will age, but the type
of aging we are doing now and all of the health trends, just pick any health trend that you want
to look up. Are we doing it right? Do we have any understanding of it? Now let's consider autism.
So this is at the beginning of life, of course, but at the end of life, on the other end of the
lifespan, the rates of dementia, the rates of autism, the rates of dementia are very similar.
Obesity is also alarming. Remember leptin, it wasn't discovered until 1994. Dementia and even
obesity can be picked up in an eye. Using an OCT scan, an ophthalmologist or optometrist can do
this and this is shown. This is in the scientific literature. They can pick up eye damage with
this melanin back in the eye, the retina, on an OCT scan years, many years before dementia and those
symptoms that we know manifest later in life. It starts in the eye. It starts with the photoreceptors
and these light sources. I don't think none of this is very complicated if we just look at it
differently. If we just give ourselves a chance or said differently, just to wrap all of these
things up, the rates of chronic diseases are concerning. The second thing is we can look
up maps from space. NASA does this to look at Earth and the artificial light from let's say the
1940s to the 60s to the 80s to the 2000s about every 20 years or so. You can see this artificial
light at night expanding. It's a rapid increase. We are more exposed to this type of light. So a
shift from the light source and then the increase of this artificial light. This is my opinion.
Artificial light looks innocent. It doesn't look like much is going on other than it allows us to
light up the inside environment. It allows us to light up our houses and we can extend the day
and we can light up the house so we can enjoy our pleasures, enjoy our activities, our modern
activities and pleasures. Further, it allows us to light up organization so we can have more job
opportunities during the night and we can have more goods produced. But then we get shift work
and all of these health implications associated with that which aren't a surprise in the medical
literature. It might be a surprise to the lay public but that doesn't make it right. It doesn't
make lighting up the homes at night and this being suffocated in artificial light right. We
like that artificial light at night. We like it. We're drawn to that nightlife with those shiny
lights, spotlighting, things to do, activities. Oh look at this. The artificial light even during
the day allows us to be more comfortable but that doesn't make it right. And here's my last opinion
because I want to move on. It's off topic. The light during that industrial revolution was really
serious. It really allowed profits to be made and those goods to be produced like we mentioned
earlier. And now after several generations of it, after all of these generations, it's just normal
part of life now. Couldn't imagine living without it or reducing it or only using it at certain
times, optimal times that's okay for your biology. Okay, let's talk more light and biology. Photo
electric effect is photons hitting the surface and giving energy to electrons. In our case,
different proteins require or activate based on various wavelengths of light. Artificial light
has certain wavelengths, very specific wavelengths. Most modern light such as LED and tech light is
blue light about 460 to 480 nanometer light. We've covered this. However, I don't think it hit.
Incandescent light was mostly green all the way up to red and infrared light. Candles are red light
to near infrared light and fire is too. The sun includes UVB about 250 nanometer light all the
way up to 3100 nanometer light. And that includes various infrareds. So it's UVB, UVA, and then the
visual light spectrum, the rainbow from violet to red light. So from 390 to 760. And then from 760
to 3100 are various forms of infrared. I bet 99% 99% of society does not understand or know that
infrared light is a tool against cancer cells. It is known. Go to your search bar right now and type
in infrared light, Jack Hammers cancer cells, I believe to my knowledge. This is the latest research.
And it comes out of Texas A&M. They use Jack Hammers whenever they discuss what infrared light is
doing to a cancer cell. The sun is roughly 43 to 47% red and infrared light. So almost half of the
sunlight that we get is in this range. Melatonin is going to be the human's powerhouse here. The
human secret weapon for this. Here are some interesting data. These data are very interesting.
Vitamin D and autism are anti correlated, whereby the higher the vitamin D, the less likelihood
for autism. Okay. Autism rates closer to the equator are also lower. Now, artificial light in
this modernization is becoming more and more. However, the sun and the power of the sun is
still going to kind of cancel out. I know, I know. A biological cell is a so-called dissipative
structure. A dissipative structure is built atomically to capture energy from the environment.
It captures this energy and stores it. Melanin and water are major players here in the cell to
capture that energy. The energy from the sunlight and that lux is the way this happens. What we
want to look at is the sun power, the lux provided by the sun versus artificial light. So something
to consider is the lux between artificial light and indoors versus outdoors in the sunlight.
Indoors, roughly 3 to 500 lux is about the most that you will receive. And remember,
it's a very specific wavelength. However, the sun, a sunrise and sunset are roughly 20,000 to 30,000
lux. And the afternoon sun is upwards to 100,000 lux. And this is the energy source. This is the
difference in energy source too. Remember the light as an electromagnetic strip and how we use that
light. Here are just some brief benefits or some highlighted benefits of each wavelength of light
and sun and the relationship to human biology. This list is not exhaustive. UVB, which is roughly
250 or so to 315 nanometer light. Vitamin D, vitamin D and cholesterol have a close relationship. It's
a very coordinated dance whereby they need to sulfate. They need to work together with UVB light
for lipid metabolism. This is the lipid metabolism that is a problem in society today. And some
details about that medication I mentioned previously in the episode. Testosterone. Remember
testosterone's role in human biology. Sipolsky says testosterone makes effort feel good. The
aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tryptophan, tyrosine, tryptophan and methionine, another
amino acid are very unique. They have one codon and methionine is the start signal for all protein
and DNA sequencing. And histidine. Histidine is one of those amino acids that are vital for protein
synthesis. It helps synthesize proteins, which is also a region of interest for us. Endogenous
analgesic. So those pain receptors or that pain perception also associated with a pro opioid
bolano-cortin. That wonderful subdivision in the hypothalamus. Leptin sensitivity. Now we've
we've hit on that. So UVA, so roughly 315 to 390 nanometer light. Nitric oxide. This is huge for
CVD. UVA is powerful for our cardiovascular system. UVA regulates blood pressure. Infrared light. So
760 all the way up to 3100 light. Melatonin. Infrared creates a sun callus. So prevents harm
from too much UV. The more you get infrared, which is really high in morning and evening,
closer to sunset. This protects. This is an endogenous healthy sunscreen. This is Mother Nature
sunscreen. Water. Infrared is huge for our water. The human body is roughly 80% water at birth. And
this decreases decade over decade as we age. See Jared Pollock for water. This is primarily why
younger humans are more resilient. And infrared is a wonderful anti-inflammatory. And of course,
the wonderful cancer fighting abilities. Infrared can even penetrate bone. It penetrates bones. A
process called DC electric current. And this is a semiconductor method here. The higher the
wavelength of light, such as the red light at around 700 all the way up to the 3100 in the
infrared light. The higher that number is, the more it penetrates the human body. A combination of
UVA and infrared, a type of infrared light, regenerates photoreceptors. A lot of what we're
talking about today is those photoreceptors that receives the light energy. Red light,
which is 620 to 760 nanometer light. Mitochondria function. It's huge for mitochondria. That
cytochrome C oxidase mentioned earlier, it has four chromophores. And they are all red light.
You might ask, and you ought to ask, why are red light chromophores deep inside the mitochondria?
And you ought to consider, where are we getting red light now? Artificial light doesn't have it.
The sunlight does, but where are humans getting the red light if they're not outside? And think
about the consequences. And thinning out blood viscosity, we don't want thick blood. So red
light to infrared is wonderful for the cardiovascular. Red light also lowers blood glucose. Studies
show by 27, 27% just the light. This is nature's way of giving us energy, giving us improving
our metabolism. In contrast to the red light, blue light stimulates glucose corticoids. That's
right. The blue light will cause us to generate cortisol and glucose without eating. And this
is all through the POMC gene. Modern light is full of the blue light spectra, about 440
to 480, 490. It's huge for circadian rhythm, those natural rhythms we had to follow before
the creation of artificial light. We've talked about melanopsin. Melanopsin is a blue light
chromophore. We've discussed this. Remember, melanopsin wasn't discovered until 1998. That's
when it was discovered in the human eye. However, how it's sequenced and melanopsin being present
in tissues, organs, and deep inside the brain didn't exist until six, eight, 10, 12 years
ago. So all of this has happened recently. Why do we have this blue light chromophore
all over the place? That's the question. That's the question you have to ask if you're going
to follow along here and understand and give yourself a chance to consider what is going
on. And the downstream implications or the power melanopsin have to all of the bodily
physiology. This is very crucial and an alarming consideration for our health now in the modern
world. The smaller the wavelength, such as in the UV area and the blue light, have greater
photonic energy. You know this. You know UV light is strong. Visual light, which is the
only light humans can see, the 390 to 760. Most modern light now, most artificial light,
are shorter wavelengths because that light contains more energy. So it requires less
electricity to power it. So let's expand on melanin, a black pigment now found across
the brain that serves several purposes. Melanin is a semiconductor whereby each one, U melanin,
few melanin, and neuro melanin, uses a different element on the periodic table. One uses nitrogen,
one uses sulfur, and one uses phosphorus. Melanin comes from tyrosine and UVB. You know
about color. You know about certain types of melanin. You melanin and feel melanin for
the eyes, skin, and hair. However, neuro melanin, as we discussed previously, likely you've
just heard melanin without detail, without understanding the purposes. Neuro melanin
is slightly different. One, it protects against oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is extremely
harmful for cells. And a major factor, maybe the primary factor for CVD and aging complications.
Oxidative stress is a common theme throughout this whole episode. Everything we're talking
about essentially is involving oxidative stress, specifically the mitochondria and the cytochrome.
And two, neuronal function. Here we go. Cell function, beginning in the embryogenesis.
Mitosis. Mitosis is trillions of cells dividing, giving life to a complex living organism.
Cells begin to increase at rapid paces. They migrate. We've discussed cell migration. In
episode three, one of the first things we discussed in episode three. Now autism and cell migration
is a problem. This is a very big problem. In things like the cell functioning, the cells
capability and the hydration, the cell metabolism, all of these things will factor into the migration.
And blue light does not do any favors for this. In the complex living organism, such
as the human, this is detrimental in the development, early in development, from embryogenesis
and all the way up through lifehood to the whole lifespan. Remember that linear timeline
that we painted earlier in the episode. This can implicate cells and problems and increase
senescence all through lifespan. And you can see this in society. Melanin and light will
be our best friend for this, for protection, for proper cell growth, migration, for proper
cell function. Melanogenesis comes from UV light, UV radiation that up regulates melanocytes
from pro-opioid melanocortin or POMC. This is a subdivision in the hypothalamus. We've
discussed the hypothalamus. There are three types of melanocytes. Our region of interest
is alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone. We've introduced this in episode four. We've introduced
this to autism during that time. But this is far beyond autism. This is all cells for
all conditions. Common with genetic implications with autism is cell and synapsis development.
That is, much of those implications are tied to cell development and function and synaptic
development and function. Both the pre and the post synapses. Neuromellanin is black.
And this is why we use the melanin. The black absorbs all frequency of light. It receives
all of that energy from that electromagnetic strip. Remember the sun spectrum from 250
to 3100 and remember how certain wavelengths provide certain benefits to our biology. Now
remember artificial light has very specific wavelengths. Another role with neuromellanin
is protecting the cell whereby the pigments remove toxins and metals. Here we go. Society
loves to speak about toxins and metals as a general cause and general reasons for rates
of autism diagnosis. They think this is what's causing the increase. This reason is missing
critical information. This is true about toxins and pesticides and metals and so forth. The
reason would be neuromellanin. Neuromellanin protects the cell against those toxins, the
pesticides and metals and so forth. It is mostly known. Neuromellanins role in degenerative
conditions. As you know, it's role in cell health and protection. Interesting. Neuromellanin
is the topic for Parkinson's. Most people would think dopamine and that's true. But
neuromellanin and dopamine are closely related. It's in the biosynthesis. A hot spot for
Parkinson's is a Cisthantia nigra or black substance. Neuromellanin is also plentiful
and the locus ceruleus. The spot for brain adrenaline. Dopamine, melanin, adrenaline are
all synthesized by tyrosine, one of the aromatic amino acids. This tyrosine protein needs 200
nanometer light or UVB light. Within the past month, Neuroscience News highlighted a study,
a recent study showing people with autism have a three fold increase, times three increase,
chance of developing Parkinson's. If you go to PubMed and type in Neuromellanin, you
can see trend of articles released. The articles are increasing mainly because, one, people
are understanding its role in different than the peripheral melanin discussed earlier with
the eye, hair and skin color. And two, the rates of Parkinson's. People, science is
starting to study this more. Melanin is involved in the cell body. All cells and it is not
limited to Parkinson's or any degenerative condition. Okay, moving on to tryptophan,
another aromatic amino acid. Tryptophan is a wide band semiconductor for the eyes. The
eyes are no way only vision. It's a passage into our deep biology and development. The
eyes is a highway into our biology. This involves photoreceptors. We've discussed
melanopsin and physiology and development, timing, etc. Also, we've discussed all
opsin, have a weak covalent bond with vitamin A. You have probably heard how important vitamin
A is for the eyes. As a kid, probably told carrots are good for your eyes. Anyway, blue
light destroys this bond, vitamin A to opsin. Remember the implications, the damage of opsin
and vitamin A, those weak covalent bonds. Vitamin A in the aldehyde form damages cells when
the bond is broken. Remember, blue light breaks this bond and create free radicals. That broken
bond of vitamin A in this aldehyde form is toxic to cell membranes, an area called lipid
rafts and it causes a so-called dielectric collapse of the cell. This means we cannot
control or understand the electromagnetic information coming in from the light. We cannot
create order from that electromagnetic strip. And this seems to be at the core of a lot
of the aging complications of modern day and chronic diseases. Free radicals in our biology
is no good. It is an unstable molecule that promotes or creates ROS, that oxidative condition
that is no good. ROS is reactive oxygen species and this damages DNA and cells, lipid and
proteins and they are also responsible for cancer and aging. It sounds familiar. It sounds
like this episode. Yes, free radicals is a normal part of the cell metabolism. However,
it's the amount and it's the amount of antioxidants we have internally built into us that intends
to keep us safe. However, these internal mechanisms rely on sunlight to create these antioxidants.
Humans did not evolve with the need of exogenous antioxidants so much in a supplement form
or medication or relying on nutrients from food. We have these already and they come
from the sun. Vitamin A is crucial for eyes and skin and influences cell development. No
surprise, cell growth and cell differentiation. All crucial parts of human development. Okay,
from tryptophan is serotonin. Remember an aromatic amino acid activating for UVB light.
Serotonin is the first molecule studied in autism from the 1960s. It was 1961 when it
hit medical literature. Serotonin has a vital or is a vital molecule for modulating the
nervous system. Today it is believed to be the closest to a biomarker for autism. That
is according to Mueller et al. including Jeremy Finstra, Vanderwill. This paper was a collaboration
between Vanderbilt and Columbia. They study serotonin and autism quite extensively. Serotonin
is in the brain of course and in the gut and platelets and cutaneous tissues. Serotonin
is synthesized on the skin. This is one biosynthesis path from the eyes and the skin. Remember
the brain and skin are connected. There are two isoforms responsible for serotonin production.
And the central nervous system or the brain serotonin. Remember our conversation about
this as a neural modulator. And remember the RAFE located on the brain stem. This is tryptophan
hydroxylase 2 or TPH2 which is an enzyme used for the biosynthesis of tryptophan into serotonin.
And second for the peripheral nervous system synthesized by tryptophan hydroxylase 1 or
TPH1 which is in the epidermis. More specifically the keratinocytes. So this is right on the
skin surface essentially. The keratinocytes make up 90% of the epidermis and have a large
role with cell proliferation and differentiation. This serotonin does not enter the brain. And
remember 95% of all serotonin is located in the gut. Now something never mentioned on
this podcast is the relationship between autism and GI issues. This is well documented, well
studied. Just this week Nature Microbiology released a paper. I'm looking forward to
learning more about how archaea and bacteria are involved here. Peripheral serotonin is
vast for development and during pregnancy. Serotonin in the maternal pancreas is in the
process of serotonin in the fetal forebrain. I'll say it again. Serotonin from the maternal
pancreas is included in the process of serotonin for the fetal forebrain. Okay the gut serotonin
has a large role in peripheral physiology. Additional roles in development includes and
these processes ought to be familiar to us now. They include serotonin helps modulate
the nervous system. Also cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. Perhaps the
most interesting and a region of interest for us is serotonin's role in sensory processing.
Scientifically referred to as somatosensory system. Somatosensory is more specific to
object recognition, discriminating between textures and processing sensory to motor feedback
and exchanging in social cues. Sounds familiar, sounds like autism. We as humans, we have
a sensory map and this map is implicated. In addition, a path that is implicated is the
thalamocortical connection. We've discussed this. So the thalamus to the cortex. In other
words, the thalamus which is where all senses are processed to the cortex. The area that
extends the head up more than any other species. The area that makes us dominant. However, a
reason that gives humans an enormous capacity to think. This is a human function. This is
a human feature. The somatosensory explains a lot with autism explains the autistic phenotype
including all three social communication and interaction criteria. Remember criteria A,
A1, A2 and A3 and it explains some criteria B, B1 and B4. Melanin is involved in all five
senses. Melanin is in between the sitting organ and the brain. Different individuals
and different species have different amounts of melanin in between certain senses and the
brain. Think about dogs. Think about dogs and their ability for smell. Their olfaction process.
Dogs have more melanin located at their olfaction senses. Remember at the beginning of the biosynthesis
is tryptophan on the surface eyes, skin and gut. Additionally, serotonin is crucial for
visual and auditory cortex. Undisputed, tryptophan is massive for the human eye. Please don't
underestimate the biosynthesis of serotonin from the surfaces. Eyes, skin and skin via
the gut. Returning to an earlier conversation, blue light or modern light implicates vitamin
A and melatonin which is synthesized via tryptophan and serotonin. This is vast for mitochondria
DNA and autophagy. Now, I've mentioned this briefly, mitochondria and this is very important
for cells. It is very important for all human cells and autism. However, we haven't discussed
it much and that is not because it is not important. It is very important. Mostly when
we discuss a cell, we discuss the mitochondria. It uses photosynthesis. 95% of the body's
melatonin is synthesized here in the mitochondria which comes from tryptophan. Remember, more
need for UVB. Melatonin is the body's number one antioxidant. And remember what I just
said about photosynthesis. Humans are solar powered. Humans use photosynthesis just the
same as what you might know in chlorophyll to a plant. Humans are solar powered. Damage
here is no good for cells. No good for aging. No good for anything downstream from these
processes which are massive. The eyes are upstream in this process. Destroying this,
everything is damaged. This is degeneration. This is accelerated aging. Okay, some things
to note. Blue light, LED, tech light, all or most, modern light causes hypoxia. Hypoxia
is well researched in autism and oxidative stress. This explains cancer. This explains
accelerated aging. It also implicates development. Our region of interest. Remember that process
in the mitochondria. Oxidation to water. This is not news. This is known. This developmental
problem early on is known with the cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, etc. and how cells
develop and function. But think about all of those processes running in reverse. This
is the implications to aging and the cancer and dementia. All of these processes are kind
of unwinding, if you will. And that's what we're seeing in society. If you have implications
during development, yes, you'll see things like autism, ADHD, the neurodevelopmental
problems, even schizophrenia, etc. But not all, obviously not all people have these.
But on the back end, it's not necessary. You can be normal. You can be healthy or your
biology can be perfect. But this exposure will begin to unwind this. You do not have
to look hard to see examples of this. This is all known in medical research. Where we
fell is it is not known by the masses. But why? Think about the human baby. We are much
different than other species, other primates, especially chimps. We are 99% exact gene matches
as chimps. Yet, from the first cell dividing in that embryogenesis to birth, let's say
to three years old. I want to cut off here. There is massive things changing. Everything
involved in these processes that we've discussed today. Autism is happening somewhere along
this linear timeline. Humans, after birth, are very underdeveloped compared to other
primates. To other species, regardless of a primate or not, our brains are very underdeveloped.
We take on mass of changes from different life spans, different stages of the lifespan.
We are also overweight. We are chubby, if you will. Chubby babies with underdeveloped
brains. Our evolution, however, requires certain things for this undertaking, for this development
of the brain and the nervous system. The energy system, our metabolism. We lose the baby weight.
We grow a brain, a functional brain. At birth, we can even sit up. We have no muscle strength.
With autism, we have the dyspraxia, that underdevelopment. But even with a normal child, they're still
delayed here compared to other species. Remember how GABA, that inhibitory neuron,
is excitatory during the critical period. Think about birth to that critical period,
the end of it, and how it's pretty common that children will learn different languages
that pick up on different languages quite easily. There's this rapid development occurring.
However, with the spectrum, let's talk about the spectrum here. How some people with autism
range from the high functioning, or the Asperger's so-called little professors, to the profound
autism. We've discussed profound in that level three type. That's a big difference.
But we can see that how these cells are implicated during the development, starting in the embryo
likely, how this will manifest for the young child, two, three, four years old. It could
be speech and language. It could be motor coordination. It could be sensory processing.
It could be low social motivation, or desires in social motivation. Poor social communication.
It could be poor eye gaze is common. And remember how much we've spoken about the eyes, and
the downstream processes from the eyes. This is something. And then at the other end of
the spectrum, children can, they need so much support, such as using the bathroom or riding.
Riding is a common problem with autism, or feeding, getting dressed, etc. All of these
basic life skills are missing. Or maybe the person with autism has GI issues. Some do,
some don't. But with the cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. This is it.
The sun, and all of these mechanisms that we've discussed, is a part of this crucial
part. It is all very underestimated. I don't know if it's direct or intentional or indirect.
We just bypass it. And I think it could be, because we don't want that conflict within
ourselves while we're discovering this. We're studying this. Humans hate when our beliefs
are offended, when we can't figure out something. We need to figure it out. We need something
that makes sense to us. Maybe, if you made it this far, you do have some critical thinking
and curiosity. All of this stuff is known. Everything we've discussed is known. This
isn't me. This isn't the medical literature. This isn't decentralized medicine. You can
find people, doctors, PhDs, etc. Neurosurgeons talking about this stuff. But the masses,
they don't know. Okay. Before we end, there's, vitamin Bs are very important in autism and
development. I should say, in development. There's a couple of B vitamins here that we
will discuss. Beginning with a well-studied vitamin B folate. It's vitamin B9. This is
altered by light pollution and water. Remember, light controls DNA expression. Folate requires
water. This water is made from the cells mitochondria metabolism. Easy water. You might have heard
or fourth phase of water. Folate is involved in creating those neuromodulators previously
discussed epinephrine, nor epinephrine and dopamine. All very crucial in the human nervous
system. Folate provides one carbon for the regulation of DNA methylation and DNA synthesis.
You know this process is abnormal in autism. Folate requires UVB light. B12 does too. Low
folate potentially increases risk of CVD, colon cancer, anemia, pregnancy and birth complications,
mood disorders and dementia. Melanin assist in the process. Remember those protective
roles. Blue light also called modern light provides vast consequences for this process.
Natural folate synthesis is broken today. Now it comes from supplement or exogenous and
supplement form increases autism risk. It comes from manmade foods also in exogenous
form. Those are synthetic also known as folic acid and bypasses crucial components of the
natural biosynthesis. And that's a problem. I know a lot of people are going to discount
this conversation today. We need critical thinking, curiosity to even consider. Autism
just arrives in human evolution about 100 years ago. Autism just magically appears. There's
a lot of effort going into discovering which genes. I want to know what is causing it.
I want to know what would happen if a high likelihood children during birth, during pregnancy,
if there's a family history, if the pregnant woman would spend time outdoors instead of
underneath blue light. Would that help? Would changing the environment during pregnancy help?
But instead the focus is on medication and maybe a shot. There I even say, it even pains
me to say maybe there will be an autism vaccination. That does not sound like a fix to me.
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