WEBVTT 00:00:01.389 --> 00:00:05.570 I would like to mention Chroma, lights designed 00:00:05.570 --> 00:00:10.890 for humans. Chroma, a Seattle -based innovator 00:00:10.890 --> 00:00:15.929 founded by ex -NASA and Air Force engineer Michael 00:00:15.929 --> 00:00:19.670 Shapiro, is on a mission to enhance physical 00:00:19.670 --> 00:00:24.289 and mental health with purpose -built devices, 00:00:25.170 --> 00:00:28.850 unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, 00:00:29.289 --> 00:00:33.759 and performance. Shapiro launched Chroma to restore 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:37.920 the natural light lost to screens in indoor living, 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.439 and delivers faster recovery, sharper minds, 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:47.259 and better sleep. Their products hit hard. 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Provide flicker -free light that's 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:54.140 easy on the eyes. High -powered LEDs target key 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:58.659 wavelengths for skin, tissue, and cellular health. 00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:02.579 with smart heat management for the lasting impact. 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:07.019 Every design decision Chroma makes serves a purpose 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:11.460 to create devices that are precise, durable, 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:17.199 and effective for improving human life. Remember, 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:20.300 humans use different wavelengths of light for 00:02:20.300 --> 00:02:25.259 different functions of life. Remember when I 00:02:25.259 --> 00:02:32.330 ask, what do you think light is. Chroma designs 00:02:32.330 --> 00:02:37.229 with our biology in mind. From sleep aids and 00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:41.930 wound healing to mitochondrial energy, full body 00:02:41.930 --> 00:02:45.370 lights and blue light blocking glasses. They 00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:50.469 are US made and chroma ships globally and accepts 00:02:50.469 --> 00:02:58.280 FSA and HSA payments. Use autism at checkout 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:04.979 for a 10 % off discount. That's autism at checkout 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:12.699 for a 10 % off discount. For today's episode, 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:18.300 we will cover spindle neurons, sometimes called 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:24.080 von economo neurons, named after the person discovering 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.199 these special types of neurons. Constantine von 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:35.139 Economo in the mid -1920s. Von Economo was studying 00:03:35.139 --> 00:03:38.580 human cortical tissue at the time, and he described 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:43.740 these elongated spindle -shaped cells. These 00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:46.340 are much different than the pyramidal cells. 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.520 And interestingly, he discovered these in the 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.740 anterior cingulate cortex, the ACC. We've talked 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:59.599 about the ACC in great lengths several episodes 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:05.080 and in the insula cortex or the insular cortex 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.460 another region of interest for us on the podcast 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:13.740 Now this is interesting to me Because this is 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:16.800 the hub these two regions are the hub that make 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:21.779 up the salience network also also discovered 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:25.769 as being implicated in autism remember the study 00:04:25.769 --> 00:04:28.949 from UCLA published last year about one year 00:04:28.949 --> 00:04:34.689 ago now that found at six weeks old autistic 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:39.769 humans autistic babies have an impaired salience 00:04:39.769 --> 00:04:44.750 network connections to and from and if you're 00:04:44.750 --> 00:04:47.509 just listening you're thinking well they're at 00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:51.750 six weeks old one they use functional connectivity 00:04:51.899 --> 00:04:55.579 So they use this imaging at UCLA. They have these 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:58.220 equipments. They're equipped to do this. And 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:02.339 second thing is, they have a high likelihood 00:05:02.339 --> 00:05:06.839 group and a typical likelihood group. So they 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:09.939 were able to follow these six weeks old children, 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.939 these babies, up until two, three years old, 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:17.240 to see and track their autistic phenotype, to 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:22.279 see if this came true. Now with the research, 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:25.779 sometimes they are called spindle neurons, and 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:29.160 sometimes they are just called von economo neurons. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.399 Sometimes VEN. I'm going to mostly say spindle 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:38.300 neurons, I believe. The reason why they're spindle 00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:41.360 neurons is because they are like a cylinder, 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:46.860 like a soda can shape. These are nearly twice 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:51.259 the size of those pyramidal neurons. You can 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:54.240 see some pictures, some images of these, just 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.939 doing a quick Google search. These are large 00:05:56.939 --> 00:06:01.920 cells. And the ideal is they allow for rapid 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.899 communication. We've also talked about monosynaptic 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:10.360 connections, a direct connection from cell to 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:14.339 cell. For instance, melanopsin in the retina 00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:19.670 to the SCN. in the hypothalamus, our master clock, 00:06:19.870 --> 00:06:23.250 that is monosynaptic, meaning it does not have 00:06:23.250 --> 00:06:29.110 to connect using synapses to travel from point 00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:34.329 A to point B. This also allows for rapid communication. 00:06:35.129 --> 00:06:40.029 So the ideal is that these type of rare cells 00:06:40.029 --> 00:06:43.269 are doing essentially the same thing, faster 00:06:43.269 --> 00:06:49.509 communication from point A to point B. And also, 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:54.089 it appears that the main thing, this main action, 00:06:54.269 --> 00:06:59.470 response, activity for the spindle neurons are 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:06.069 social behaviors. Very interesting again. So 00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:09.870 Von Economo discovered, I guess you will, will 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:13.589 credit him for the discovery of these spindle 00:07:13.589 --> 00:07:17.620 neurons in the 1920s. and then research kind 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:23.459 of stops on these special types of neurons until 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:27.939 late 90s, mid late 90s year 2000 or so when a 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:32.819 guy named John Allman kind of so -called rediscovers 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:37.259 them and starts to study these. Now one guess 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:43.250 I have is these spindle neurons are less dense. 00:07:43.329 --> 00:07:47.269 There are very few of them in these two regions 00:07:47.269 --> 00:07:53.209 of our body. The ACC and the Insula. They are 00:07:53.209 --> 00:07:57.170 not just heavily populated. So this might be 00:07:57.170 --> 00:08:00.589 difficult for people to go and search. It might 00:08:00.589 --> 00:08:04.410 be difficult for people to think that these cells 00:08:04.410 --> 00:08:08.389 have significance. So we have the interesting 00:08:08.389 --> 00:08:12.490 fact that These cells are only in the ACC and 00:08:12.490 --> 00:08:15.970 Insula, the two major hubs that make up the salience 00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:20.329 network. We'll speak more about the salience 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:23.410 network in a minute. And also the second interesting 00:08:23.410 --> 00:08:26.870 point are these cells appear to only be used 00:08:26.870 --> 00:08:32.210 for social behaviors. Now the third interesting 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:38.570 point right away is these cells so far, so far 00:08:38.570 --> 00:08:43.419 they have only been found in very few species 00:08:43.419 --> 00:08:48.779 mostly larger primates and a few cetaceans so 00:08:48.779 --> 00:08:53.659 -called cetaceans which are dolphins and whales 00:08:53.659 --> 00:08:57.220 so very social creatures mind you that's what 00:08:57.220 --> 00:09:00.500 that's really what sticks out here these larger 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:04.240 primates that can sustain their species and be 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:09.649 more developed and evolved and have a pretty 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:13.590 good social structure. Okay, let's talk about 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:17.529 some structure of this actual spindle neuron 00:09:17.529 --> 00:09:20.830 a bit. So they are larger, they are bipolar, 00:09:21.190 --> 00:09:24.809 okay? They're spindle -shaped cell bodies. Remember, 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:27.690 they're kind of cylinder. And they have very 00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:31.129 minimal dendrites. Remember, we've talked about 00:09:31.129 --> 00:09:36.659 some dendrites in the dorsal striatum. Remember, 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:39.559 we was talking with Dr. Hannah Stevens from University 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:44.360 of Iowa. The cells for autistics in the dorsal 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:47.139 striatum, which is where our motivations and 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:49.820 movements converge. And not motivations that 00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:52.179 you might think, but the motivations of the central 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:56.320 nervous system trying to respond. Remember, we 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:00.899 just respond without the use of this higher order 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:04.159 top -down processing. And this is what we're... 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.899 we're kind of getting to here anyways with the 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:09.580 top -down processing and just evaluating the 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:15.080 self with that salience network the dorsal striatum 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:20.500 the cells here for autistics are have very dense 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:25.820 dendrites so it's kind of the opposite here now 00:10:25.820 --> 00:10:30.059 the difference between the dendrites and typical 00:10:30.059 --> 00:10:33.039 brain and autistic brains are not known to me 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.580 right now And another factor is that the cortex 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:41.019 of the human brain, we have layers, six layers, 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:45.000 and the ideal is these are layered on top of 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.580 each other like crepes. The spindle neurons are 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:52.299 found in layer five. These cells, the spindle 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:56.799 neurons, are mostly monoamine, dopamine and serotonin. 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:03.039 In addition, some of them can express neuropeptide 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:07.929 Y. Neuropeptide Y is very crucial and it's a 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:11.190 very dynamic little molecule similar to kind 00:11:11.190 --> 00:11:15.669 of vasopressin and oxytocin and it has roles 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:19.909 with like fear buffering, fear modulation, social 00:11:19.909 --> 00:11:25.490 bonding, energy, metabolism, food intake, and 00:11:25.490 --> 00:11:28.690 helping determine physiology like breathing and 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:32.740 breath rate and heart rate. Okay, so that's just 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:36.940 a brief summary of neuropeptide Y. It's 36 amino 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:40.120 acids. Remember, oxytocin and vasopressin were 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:47.960 only nine proteins. So the von Economo spindle 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:53.779 neurons come on board roughly four months to 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:58.879 35 weeks of gestation. So it's kind of mid to 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:04.309 late. time frame of the in utero and they last 00:12:04.309 --> 00:12:08.429 they they build up and humans for the essentially 00:12:08.429 --> 00:12:12.450 the first four years of life for humans and this 00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:16.870 this really captures that social network and 00:12:16.870 --> 00:12:20.490 social skills social learning and just bringing 00:12:20.490 --> 00:12:24.110 in all of the social the source of social information 00:12:24.110 --> 00:12:30.429 here so another thing that kind of captures the 00:12:30.429 --> 00:12:34.149 role, the specific role with social behaviors. 00:12:34.730 --> 00:12:37.549 In addition to the serotonin and dopamine and 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:42.070 that neuropeptide Y even. So with their unique 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:45.669 roles, it really equips the human brain with 00:12:45.669 --> 00:12:50.470 specialized functions here that humans and these 00:12:50.470 --> 00:12:55.830 other larger primates are utilizing. So just 00:12:55.830 --> 00:12:59.590 briefly on these other mammals with larger brains 00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:04.309 and larger primates and so forth it is estimated 00:13:04.309 --> 00:13:10.330 that between the the ACC and the insula now let's 00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:13.269 just break this insula into regions here we're 00:13:13.269 --> 00:13:16.210 going to be talking about the anterior or sometimes 00:13:16.210 --> 00:13:20.009 called the frontal insula this is where this 00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:23.799 is more of the seat of the salience network So 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:26.879 if I say insula, it's more of this front region. 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:32.759 So humans have roughly 100 ,000 to 200 ,000 in 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:38.320 these two regions here. Also found are great 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.860 apes, such as chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:46.179 and orangutans. They are also found in monkeys, 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:53.200 no surprise, and the cetaceans. Okay. These would 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.120 include things like humpback whale fin sperm 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:02.840 and killer whales as well as some dolphins different 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.960 types of dolphins Now it leads me to believe 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.159 that perhaps these special cells these spindle 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.320 neurons are in more and more underwater creatures 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:18.559 especially Deeper into the oceans and so forth 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:21.399 in addition. They are found in some elephants 00:14:21.850 --> 00:14:24.350 some signs that they are in elephants, African 00:14:24.350 --> 00:14:28.669 and Asian elephants. And then even more recently, 00:14:29.389 --> 00:14:33.970 perhaps they are in manteties and things like 00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:37.590 giraffes and hippopotamus. But remember, these 00:14:37.590 --> 00:14:42.090 are not very dense populations of cells. So they 00:14:42.090 --> 00:14:46.730 are, I guess, harder to discover. And in 2008, 00:14:47.629 --> 00:14:50.629 there was a third region. in the human brain 00:14:50.629 --> 00:14:53.950 that appears to have these special spindle neurons. 00:14:54.269 --> 00:14:57.789 And that's the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. 00:14:58.889 --> 00:15:04.389 And these are extremely rare in here. Clusters 00:15:04.389 --> 00:15:09.590 of two. So very hard to search and find. So let's 00:15:09.590 --> 00:15:12.250 talk about the salience network. We've had a 00:15:12.250 --> 00:15:15.929 couple of episodes. We had autism -adaptive responses 00:15:15.929 --> 00:15:19.500 where we kind of parsed out the medial prefrontal 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:24.620 cortex, which includes the ACC and the insula. 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:28.580 And then we also had another episode about autism 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:33.279 and the insula. So we've covered these two regions. 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:37.200 So the salience network is no surprise. It brings 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.419 our attention to that topic, to that area of 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:47.009 interest within the living organism. It determines 00:15:47.009 --> 00:15:50.370 relevant stimuli, and then it integrates the 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:52.789 sensory. We've talked about sensory integration 00:15:52.789 --> 00:15:57.549 in quite great detail even, with the neural relation 00:15:57.549 --> 00:16:01.629 and the mesencephalon. Huge in the mesencephalon 00:16:01.629 --> 00:16:05.529 is sensory integration. The salience network 00:16:05.529 --> 00:16:08.230 also helps determine emotional and cognitive 00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:12.860 information. to guide our attention that decision 00:16:12.860 --> 00:16:16.019 -making and behavior. Remember, we are predicting 00:16:16.019 --> 00:16:20.639 machines, okay? And we are constantly using internal 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:26.179 calculators, biological calculators. And this 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:32.039 is a big data input here for that process, the 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:35.840 so -called salient network. but really specifically 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:39.919 the ACC and the anterior region of the insula. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.179 Some significant connections here would include 00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:48.559 the amygdala, the ventral striata, which includes 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.259 the nucleus accumbens. The nucleus accumbens 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:55.700 is a very powerful little brain region here. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.740 It also connects to the substantia nigra and 00:17:00.740 --> 00:17:03.700 the ventral tegmental area, so hot spots for 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:06.799 dopamine. Remember the substantia nigra in the 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.960 basal ganglia episodes and the Parkinson episode, 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.859 where we can break this down into two subdivisions, 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:21.140 the reticulata, which is GABA, and pars compacta, 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:25.369 which is the dopamine. And also remember Dr. 00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:29.730 Reza Shadmir talking about that as well to us. 00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:33.430 The salience network also connects to the thalamus, 00:17:33.569 --> 00:17:39.250 of course, the sensory relay hub, and the hypothalamus. 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:44.710 So huge subcortical areas here. So the salience 00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:48.769 detection is a role here. That's defined more 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:53.470 as a identifying stimuli from the environment. 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:57.920 That could be a threat or a social cue, or it 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.700 could help assign our priority. Remember, that's 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:03.839 what we're doing. We're predicting and using 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.200 internal calculators and then just prioritizing 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:11.980 our needs. The metabolic bank accountant, the 00:18:11.980 --> 00:18:16.980 brain is allocating while conserving brain energy, 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:21.539 biological energy. The Salience Network also 00:18:21.539 --> 00:18:24.460 is involved with network switching. This is a 00:18:24.460 --> 00:18:27.559 very big one. This is how I kind of was introduced 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:30.859 to the Insula and the Salience Network some years 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:34.380 ago because of this network switching. Because 00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:39.119 it's kind of the fulcrum of on one side you have 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.319 the default mode network. Remember the Autism 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:46.019 in the Default Mode Network episode? This is 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:48.680 heavily researched in autism. And on the other 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.619 side of that, though, is the executive network. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.119 This goal -directed task that makes us really 00:18:56.119 --> 00:19:02.900 unique species. Well, sort of. This is also some 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:07.160 reasons why we are very harmful to ourselves. 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:11.819 So that's debatable if we're... Only humans say 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:16.059 that we're the top species. on Earth, the top 00:19:16.059 --> 00:19:19.900 living organism. When reality is, well, we would 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:24.900 probably be 12 to 15. Because we harm ourselves 00:19:24.900 --> 00:19:29.140 so much. Another role is the social and emotional 00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:32.700 processing. So the Salience Network can help 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:36.960 facilitate the empathy. And remember Sir Simon 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:41.680 Barron Cohen's theory of mind from 1985. Largely 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.809 false. largely false and really set autism research 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:52.049 back. Set a narrative about autism. So this helps 00:19:52.049 --> 00:19:56.630 us with the social decisions and interoceptive. 00:19:56.690 --> 00:19:59.829 The interoceptive integration. This is a large 00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:03.109 thing of what the insulate self is doing. But 00:20:03.109 --> 00:20:06.130 also some ACC because of that powerful internal 00:20:06.130 --> 00:20:09.509 calculator with adaptive responses and decision 00:20:09.509 --> 00:20:14.019 making. the conflict monitoring, and so forth. 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:18.680 Interoception is here. The insula is unique because 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:21.599 it's evaluating, receiving information from the 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:24.940 brain about different brain states, such as valence 00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:28.259 even. It's receiving information from the body, 00:20:28.779 --> 00:20:32.839 bodily states, and physiology. So, how's my breathing? 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:36.519 The rate and the depth? How's my heart rate? 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.799 How's my gut feedback? Am I sweating? Am I... 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:42.900 comfortable in this environment, at this moment, 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:46.359 and so forth. And the third data point is the 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:51.460 environment. So the insula receives all information 00:20:51.460 --> 00:20:55.220 about the living organism in that space and time 00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:59.420 domain. This is why the insula is very cool. 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:05.400 And based off of that, it has autonomic regulation, 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:09.700 right? The central nervous system. sympathetic 00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:14.059 and parasympathetic. This salience network is 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:18.940 kind of hinging on that. So the salience network 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:26.140 is recruiting and activating things and inactivating 00:21:26.140 --> 00:21:29.700 things, shutting things off. And it's just kind 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:34.980 of conducting this for us in real time and in 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:41.359 planning even. So the ACC, the frontal insula, 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.779 the anterior region, and this so -called salience 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:48.700 network, it's not only using the spindle neurons 00:21:48.700 --> 00:21:52.200 though. So it's hard to parse out what is doing 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:56.839 what within this kind of network. However, with 00:21:56.839 --> 00:21:59.980 the spindle neurons, it seems to be that they 00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:02.579 are central to the process and respond to that 00:22:02.579 --> 00:22:07.099 salience stimuli that helps the larger size and 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:11.460 long projections to enable that rapid communication. 00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:15.160 Remember the larger cells, it can travel from 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:19.460 point A to point B faster. And if you think about 00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:23.019 the time scales that humans are on, am I good? 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:26.640 Am I not good? Am I good? Am I not good? What 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:31.099 do I need now? And so forth. It's very rapid 00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:34.710 and it's pretty constant. The brain is always 00:22:34.710 --> 00:22:39.230 evaluating what do I need and how few of that 00:22:39.230 --> 00:22:43.690 can I use while remaining within homeostasis, 00:22:43.769 --> 00:22:49.369 the unique comfort of the living organism. I 00:22:49.369 --> 00:22:52.170 would like to take a moment and mention a pressing 00:22:52.170 --> 00:22:58.650 issue we are seeing in our modern world and that 00:22:58.650 --> 00:23:04.420 is tech use and tech light. The data are impressive 00:23:04.420 --> 00:23:09.720 and concerning on isolated wavelengths of light, 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:14.720 especially shorter wavelengths, which is blue 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:20.339 light. For those that don't know, we have chromophores, 00:23:20.980 --> 00:23:24.700 which are special proteins that absorb specific 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:29.630 wavelengths of light. For blue light, The light 00:23:29.630 --> 00:23:34.009 that is LED light and tech light, that protein 00:23:34.009 --> 00:23:39.849 is called melanopsin. Melanopsin is responsible 00:23:39.849 --> 00:23:45.069 for our circadian biology, physiology and cell 00:23:45.069 --> 00:23:50.170 functioning, hormone regulation, and even a connection 00:23:50.170 --> 00:23:56.569 to an area huge for mood. A consideration we 00:23:56.569 --> 00:24:01.009 should include is This protein was not even discovered 00:24:01.009 --> 00:24:07.690 until 1998. It seems important for us to understand 00:24:07.690 --> 00:24:12.289 how our biology uses the different wavelengths 00:24:12.289 --> 00:24:16.970 of light for various aspects of our biology. 00:24:18.509 --> 00:24:22.390 This blue light chromophore is our master controller, 00:24:23.410 --> 00:24:27.769 our master clock. Remember, circadian rhythm 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:32.529 is a two -part process. Two independent parts. 00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:39.789 Light and dark. For a quick reference, see the 00:24:39.789 --> 00:24:44.529 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. 00:24:45.730 --> 00:24:48.910 But for now, I have something exciting. I want 00:24:48.910 --> 00:24:51.769 to introduce a product unlike any other product 00:24:51.769 --> 00:24:57.009 available. A highlight is... The product from 00:24:57.009 --> 00:25:00.329 Daylight Computer Company created their product 00:25:00.329 --> 00:25:04.549 based on these factors. The Daylight Computer 00:25:04.549 --> 00:25:10.730 is completely blue light free. It has no flicker. 00:25:11.089 --> 00:25:14.509 Short wavelength flicker is extremely harmful 00:25:14.509 --> 00:25:19.430 for our eyes and downstream biology. Light flicker 00:25:19.430 --> 00:25:22.369 is constantly turning our central nervous system 00:25:22.369 --> 00:25:27.480 on and off. Essentially, it is like going to 00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:30.619 a light switch and repeatedly turning it on and 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:36.420 off. The problem is blue light and LED light 00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:40.819 does this and it is so rapid you cannot even 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:45.680 perceive this in real time. The daylight computer 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:50.680 is the lowest stimulation and foremost for sensory 00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:56.680 sensitive users. It is no question that the alternative 00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:01.980 product, especially when used at night, do not 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:06.400 address or consider this in their product. It 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:11.339 is so toxic to human biology. Big tech corporations 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:16.079 have patents on how their short wavelength implicate 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:21.619 the human nervous system. And a bonus. Despite 00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:25.799 daylight computer not having backlight, it is 00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:30.180 very functional for outdoor use. And of course, 00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:36.000 increased sunlight is always preferred. I am 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:39.359 happy to offer a discount for the daylight computer. 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:45.500 You can use the code Autism for a $25 off coupon. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:50.799 Again, use the code Autism. and the discount 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:56.019 code for $25 off. See the link in the show notes 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:59.339 to Daylight Computer Company or just give it 00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:03.440 a quick search in your internet browser. Use 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:08.380 the code autism for $25 off. So what kind of 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:11.900 diseases and conditions has these spindle neurons 00:27:11.900 --> 00:27:17.400 been linked to? So autism is one. Frontotemporal 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:20.769 dementia is one. Remember, that kind of has a 00:27:20.769 --> 00:27:23.349 loss of empathy and the social behavior is a 00:27:23.349 --> 00:27:28.589 little abnormal. Schizophrenia, no surprise if 00:27:28.589 --> 00:27:31.490 autism is going to be there. Schizophrenia has 00:27:31.490 --> 00:27:36.049 a better chance of showing up. So that salience 00:27:36.049 --> 00:27:39.549 misunderstanding and that social withdrawal linked 00:27:39.549 --> 00:27:44.910 to the reduced spindle neuron density and Alzheimer's 00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:49.799 disease. So that late stage Alzheimer's very 00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:54.400 sad situation and the emotional deficits appear 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:57.839 to be at least in some part related to the spindle 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:04.720 neurons and also suicide so emotional dysregulation 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:09.519 tied to those loss or lack of spindle neurons 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:16.710 now that's not the main data of the episode That's 00:28:16.710 --> 00:28:20.210 just the brief summary of how these are interacting. 00:28:22.210 --> 00:28:27.230 So the spindle neurons and autism. Okay, so post 00:28:27.230 --> 00:28:31.349 -mortem studies show increased spindle neuron 00:28:31.349 --> 00:28:35.890 density in the anterior insula of children with 00:28:35.890 --> 00:28:41.170 autism from age 4 to 14. So this is tied to, 00:28:41.329 --> 00:28:44.490 the idea here is it's tied to that early brain 00:28:44.490 --> 00:28:48.809 overgrowth. So they're just filling in that population 00:28:48.809 --> 00:28:52.630 and that space and time. While adult studies 00:28:52.630 --> 00:28:57.009 show no significant difference. So often in times, 00:28:57.670 --> 00:29:01.869 with the enlarged brain of the early autistic, 00:29:02.950 --> 00:29:06.369 it kind of, I don't want to say fixes itself, 00:29:06.410 --> 00:29:13.390 but it kind of does. The older brains learn to 00:29:13.390 --> 00:29:20.240 prune its population better, keep up with pruning 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:24.559 and the size and its needs better than the autistic 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:29.319 children. In the salience network, the connectivity 00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:35.160 here using the spindle neurons is altered. Hyper 00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:38.619 -connectivity between the anterior insula and 00:29:38.619 --> 00:29:44.000 the sensory regions and causes sensory hypersensitivity. 00:29:44.170 --> 00:29:47.529 very big problem in autism we've covered other 00:29:47.529 --> 00:29:50.910 areas responsible for this such as the midbrain 00:29:50.910 --> 00:29:55.069 and The sensory processing episode see part two 00:29:55.069 --> 00:29:58.849 of that where we really parse out studies and 00:29:58.849 --> 00:30:03.450 using instruments like the N 100 and the M 100 00:30:03.450 --> 00:30:08.849 and the fMRI machine Where it shows information 00:30:08.849 --> 00:30:14.309 is getting to the midbrain area faster in autistics 00:30:14.309 --> 00:30:20.210 than typical developed. But downstream, it loses 00:30:20.210 --> 00:30:25.390 its energy, and it has a slower connection to 00:30:25.390 --> 00:30:28.450 those downstream areas, like the cortical areas. 00:30:29.369 --> 00:30:32.509 And also, with the spindle neurons in autistic 00:30:32.509 --> 00:30:36.289 subjects, there's a hypo -connectivity, no surprise. 00:30:36.930 --> 00:30:40.789 This is very common. In the prefrontal regions, 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:45.240 And this implicates that social cognition, that 00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:49.240 social skills and the social behavior, learning 00:30:49.240 --> 00:30:53.339 to do these, learning the social cues. Remember 00:30:53.339 --> 00:30:58.680 the eye contact. Eyes to the superior colliculus, 00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:03.380 to the frontal eye fields, and from the superior 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:06.400 colliculus to the thalamus. The superior colliculus 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:09.119 and the thalamus are right next to each other. 00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:11.569 they can essentially just reach out and high 00:31:11.569 --> 00:31:16.730 five each other. And this determines eye, psychotic 00:31:16.730 --> 00:31:20.869 eye movements and eye attention. Big problem 00:31:20.869 --> 00:31:24.670 here. But then downstream you add this to it. 00:31:25.509 --> 00:31:29.970 Big problem. And don't forget one of the roles 00:31:29.970 --> 00:31:32.730 of the salience network is that network switching, 00:31:33.289 --> 00:31:35.970 right? It's acting as a fulcrum if it's on a 00:31:35.970 --> 00:31:40.859 teeter totter or a seesaw. balancing, activating 00:31:40.859 --> 00:31:44.559 and inactivating the default mode network and 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:47.400 the executive functioning. And remember the autism 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:51.240 and adaptive responses episode that is essentially 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:56.380 covering this. The inability to adapt appropriately 00:31:56.380 --> 00:32:02.099 in social situations. It's stuck in this internal 00:32:02.099 --> 00:32:05.500 world. It's stuck in that default mode network. 00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:12.240 The Autistic Phenotype prefers the default mode 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:15.700 network. It's inter -world. Remember the Insula, 00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:17.740 everything we just talked about today on the 00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:25.220 Insula. This is the Autistic Phenotype. If you're 00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:28.019 listening to the podcast, listening to the episode, 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:30.640 please feel free to leave a review or rating. 00:32:31.059 --> 00:32:34.480 In podcasting, reviews, ratings, and downloads 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:38.680 are huge. and I very much appreciate your feedback. 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:46.099 You can contact me on X at RPS 47586. Just look 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:49.559 for the podcast and we can have any conversation 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:52.420 about autism that you wish. I'm always happy 00:32:52.420 --> 00:32:55.839 to discuss autism with anybody that wants to. 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:59.599 You can check out the YouTube channel for full 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:05.059 length videos and shorts and clips. You can email 00:33:05.059 --> 00:33:13.950 me. info .fromthespectrumatgmail .com Thank you 00:33:13.950 --> 00:33:17.789 for listening to From the Spectrum Podcast.