{"id":114,"date":"2010-04-22T17:36:31","date_gmt":"2010-04-22T21:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aspergersparent.wordpress.com\/?p=114"},"modified":"2011-11-04T10:33:54","modified_gmt":"2011-11-04T14:33:54","slug":"are-we-neanderthals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/","title":{"rendered":"Are We Neanderthals?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just ran across this article, and it definitely merits study.<\/p>\n

The Neanderthal theory of autism, Asperger and ADHD<\/a><\/p>\n

This scholarly article seems to indicate that spectrum folk have retained quite a bit of DNA from Neanderthal ancestors, and this affects the way our brains work.<\/p>\n

So, maybe we are a different species!<\/p>\n

I’ll be using my B.A. in Anthropology to read this article \u2014 it’s pretty dense \u2014 and report back. Stay tuned …<\/p>\n

……<\/p>\n

On reading the report, it looks like the author’s analysis is quite weak. In many places in his study, he confuses correlation with causation:<\/p>\n

Seasonal breading is common in primates.\u00a0Left handedness is associated with birth during spring and summer.\u00a0Autistics are more often left handed.\u00a0It therefore seems likely that autistics are involved in seasonal breeding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The above paragraph illustrates flawed logic (and poor spelling … the second word should be breeding).<\/p>\n

In addition, he ascribes many traits to Neanderthals that we just can’t know are true, or do know are wrong. He claims they hibernated, ate a carnivorous diet, were furred, lived to 120 years old, etc. He links these traits directly with traits he claims are common in Spectrum people: seasonal affective disorder, wheat intolerance, more hair than NT people, delayed maturation. I’m finding this a stretch to believe.<\/p>\n

The article continues with a large number of these correlations, and draws the conclusion from them that autistics have more Neanderthal genes that the normal population. Because these correlations are based on very weak data, I can’t support his conclusion, though it is very intriguing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just ran across this article, and it definitely merits study. The Neanderthal theory of autism, Asperger and ADHD This scholarly article seems to indicate that spectrum folk have retained quite a bit of DNA from Neanderthal ancestors, and this affects the way our brains work. So, maybe we are a different species! I’ll be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aspie-parent","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nAre We Neanderthals? - Polymath Solution<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Liz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Liz\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8aadd911e62a97bd7a148b88033d0225\"},\"headline\":\"Are We Neanderthals?\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-22T21:36:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-04T14:33:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/\"},\"wordCount\":261,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Aspie Parent\",\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/\",\"name\":\"Are We Neanderthals? - Polymath Solution\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-22T21:36:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-04T14:33:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8aadd911e62a97bd7a148b88033d0225\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/22\/are-we-neanderthals\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Polymath Solution\",\"description\":\"Interesting things, stuff and items\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8aadd911e62a97bd7a148b88033d0225\",\"name\":\"Liz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/polymathsolution.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd57a0579485d7d6e60f0db24ad3ee4bcadcb98c442e23f93311423ffd52d67a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd57a0579485d7d6e60f0db24ad3ee4bcadcb98c442e23f93311423ffd52d67a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Liz\"},\"description\":\"Professional polymath, currently earning a living in web and graphic design and development. 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