Autism controversy
Simon Baron-Cohen complains that the media trumpeted the imminence of prenatal testing for autism based on links to prenatal testosterone levels, when in fact his study did not support such conclusions (28 March, p 26).
However, his own description of the research may show why this error happened. He insists that the traits he measured are “not necessarily indicative of autism” and that none of the children he measured were autistic. Why, then, does he use the term “autistic traits” to describe what he measured?
I imagine it is the standard jargon for these traits in his area of research; but given how politically charged and sensitive the issue is, the jargon ought to be changed to avoid such misunderstandings. Blaming the media for this confusion does not solve the problem.
It is natural for a layperson to assume that “autistic traits” are associated with autism, and that a link between “autistic traits” and fetal testosterone is the same thing as a link between autism and fetal testosterone.
From Nicholas Humphrey
Baron-Cohen complains that The Guardian “distorted” his research with its headline “New research brings autism screening closer to reality” and “Call for ethics debate as tests in the womb could allow termination of pregnancies”.
Yet, in an interesting opinion piece Baron-Cohen published on the BBC News website in January, he wrote: “Research published this year showed a link between higher levels of the male hormone testosterone in the amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus and autistic traits when the child was eight… Research is not yet at the stage where autism can be detected prenatally using a biological test, but this may not be far off… assuming such a test is developed, we would be wise to think ahead as to how such a test would be used. If it was used to ‘prevent’ autism, with doctors advising mothers to consider termination of the pregnancy if their baby tested ‘positive’, what else would be lost in reducing the number of children born with autism?” ()
It is right and brave to invite people to think ahead about the ethical consequences of your research. However, when you do so, is it fair to cry foul when journalists take you at your word?
Cambridge, UK
Growing brains
Caroline Williams reassures us that the placenta does a pretty good, if imperfect, job of protecting the fetus from unwanted substances, and cites a few cases where it fails (4 April, p 26). In fact, this is quite an underestimate of the failure.
In 2005 the US Environmental Working Group commissioned a study of the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborns (). They tested for 400 industrial chemicals and found an average of 287 in the babies’ blood, which included toxins that are known to cause cancers and developmental disorders. The test was limited to 400 substances due to costs but we know that we are exposed to thousands of such chemicals.
From Brian Robinson
When modern humans first evolved, their life expectancy was low: reaching adulthood was rare. Could the teenage brain only have evolved far enough for early humans to live out their 18 years? As humankind started surviving into adulthood, a second kick in evolution was necessary to produce a grounded adult.
Teenagers are still in the Stone Age of human evolution, developing further only if they survive. The evidence is the teenage desire to procreate as soon as possible, to ensure their genes are passed on.
Brentwood, Essex, UK
Self-regard
In his review of Thomas Metzinger’s The Ego Tunnel, Owen Flanagan includes Buddha in his list of figures who “endorsed” the idea that there is no self (21 March, p 44). This is somewhat simplistic.
Sanskrit, the language spoken by Buddha in its variant form, Pali, has several terms that could translate into English as “self”. The Sanskrit word “jiva” refers to an individual soul, “atma” can mean either an individual or universal self, “aham” means “ego”, and Brahman is a self that is coextensive with the universe.
These terms refer to different things. It is probable that the Buddha rejected the reality of jiva, but would have found rejection of Brahman illogical. It is a weakness in the English language that it uses imprecise terminology for discussing concepts of self.
From Michael Hughes
Owen Flanagan states that the consensus among scientists and philosophers is that there is no self. Consensus it may be, but they are wrong. Those among us who are not automata will be aware of the absolute reality of subjective experience; the self is the subject that is doing the experiencing.
Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, UK
ECT can work
Chris Callaghan wonders whether it is the anaesthetic used in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) that is responsible for any beneficial effects the treatment may have (21 March, p 23).
ECT has long been controversial. As a psychiatrist I can attest that its benefits are not “occasional”: ECT is the most effective antidepressant treatment we know. The response rate is as high as 80 per cent, and it is most effective for severe depression. Numerous studies have been done comparing the effects of ECT with general anaesthetic alone, where the patient undergoes the same preparation but does not receive the treatment. ECT was undoubtedly effective.
My colleagues and I put a great deal of effort into helping people understand that ECT is a powerful tool for treating major depressive disorder, mania and psychosis. Opinion pieces, such as Callaghan’s letter, that stem from emotive rather than scientific evidence can delay what can be a life-changing treatment for some individuals.
Sink or swim
According to your article “Sea level rising faster”, recent measurements show the sea level rise since 1993 to be 3 millimetres per year (14 March, p 7).
The UK Defence Standard on body size from 1997 quotes an increase in average stature for Australians and Dutch of 1.3 mm a year for men and 0.9 mm for women. Is this Darwinian evolution attempting to keep heads above water? If so, it is fighting a losing battle.
Depressed ME
Charles Shepherd asks for an objective position to be taken on the aetiology of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) (4 April, p 22). Why are those who support ME reluctant to accept a psychological basis in some cases?
In my experience, the response from a patient to such a suggestion is either to say “I’m not making it up”, or to make a quick exit from the consulting room. Most of those who treat ME accept that symptoms can result from a number of different causes, including depression.
It is likely that in the survey Shepherd mentions, respondents are biased towards those who have not benefited from treatment. Shepherd makes much of the fact that more than half the respondents had found that cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise was either unhelpful or made them worse. It would be interesting to know what proportion were made worse rather than simply not helped. Is it not worthwhile that the other half of the respondents might have been made better? There is, after all, no other treatment that has any effect.
Auraculous
You report that auditory rivalry was discovered in 2006 in France (14 March, p 34) but this idea has been around for at least a decade.
In 1994, during an Open University tutorial at Durham University in the UK, my professor conducted an experiment showing that sounds could be heard in two different ways.
He played the class a recording and then asked us if we could differentiate between the two different sound repertoires contained in it. On his playing the recording again, I found that I could swap from one perception of the type of sound to another. I called it an “auricle illusion”.
Two fingers
With regard to your recent article on tactile illusions (14 March, p 33), I think I may have been the first to notice the possibility of the transfer of tactile experiences from one part of the visual field to another. In order to show how qualia (inner sensory experiences) have no given connection with what we take them to represent, I make reference to the effects of squinting.
Place your finger on the edge of a table and squint to produce a double image. You will find you can shift the “feel” of the table from one of the images of the finger to the other (Theoria, vol 56, p 3).
Optical tricks
I found “That freaky feeling” very interesting (14 March, p 33). Though I did not try any of the tactile illusions on myself, I discovered that you had arranged for readers to get a demonstration of a different kind of illusion.
For a couple of minutes after reading item 7, which is printed in white on a black background, all the pages I looked at appeared to have stripes across them.
Population control
Tracy Chandler (28 March, p 24) says that the way to ensure that your children don’t starve to death is not to have so many. Unfortunately, this will not work. The way to ensure that your children don’t starve to death is to make sure everyone else doesn’t have so many. This is the epitome of the Tragedy of the Commons.
For the record
鈥� The Dark Energy Survey will catalogue 2000 supernovae that exploded in the last 7 billion years (11 April, p 6).
鈥� Sunlight provides the Earth with 120,000 terajoules per second of power, not terawatts as we stated (4 April, p 24).
鈥� In a story on Alzheimer’s, we misspelled the name of Stanford University neurologist Michael Greicius (11 April, p 10).