Autism vs Alzheimer's vs Schizophrenia
I have often wondered about the connection between Autism and Schizophrenia. Sometimes the way one of my son's acts reminds me of it. Are they connected? Professionals will tell you there is no connection but do you know what was the early term for a child with autism? "Childhood Schizophrenia"!
Now compare the differences between the two and even Alzheimer's and you decide: Source 3
From the list there are similarities but where autism is concerned the spectrum is so large that its hard to zero in on certain things that might resemble someone who is schizophrenic if the person with autism is high functioning.
Schizophrenia, Autism Risk Gene Trajectories Point to Shared Causes
Monkey brain developmental atlas pinpoints when, where genes activate
Risk genes for schizophrenia and autism conspicuously activate in the same neuronal neighborhood of the brain’s cortex, or outer mantel, during infancy. This suggests some related underlying illness processes - even though known genetic variations associated with the disorders overlap by only 5 percent, say researchers. Ref. Source 8c.
Suspect Molecules Overlap in Autism, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder. Shared patterns of gene expression may hold clues to disease processes. Evidence has been mounting that some mental disorders share many of the same genetic risk factors. Now, researchers have discovered that this overlap extends to the molecular level - some of these suspect genes also turn on-and-off similarly in the brains of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. These molecular signatures may hold clues to what goes wrong in the brain in these disorders—and potentially ways to better treat or even prevent them. Source 7k.