Connecting the Dots 17watch?v=xMBzJleeOno). For years, her parents had openly conversed in
front of her as if she were not capable of understanding what they were
saying. They learned that she had been listening and understanding. She
longed for people to see her for who she really was: “I am autistic, but that
is not who I am. Take time to know me, before you judge me.” Carly became
an Internet blogger, began writing a novel, and came to see herself as some
one who could accomplish things and make contributions. “You don’t know
what it feels like to be me, when you can’t sit still,” Carly proclaimed by
typing her feelings, “because your legs feel like they are on fire, or it feels
like a hundred ants are crawling up your arms”. This sensory overload of the
senses of sound, touch, and sight illustrate the huge number of synapses
that an ASD child’s brain possesses [8].
As noted previously, fetal brain development involves a precisely, highly
coordinated sequence of cellular activities. First, the neocortex forms; this is
critical to human development. The central nervous system emerges from
the neural tube, which begins in the ectoderm as a plate of cells. This neural
plate experiences a process known as folding, which produces folds, ridges,
and grooves. This proceeds from the center of the growing fetus; it results in
two open ends. Neural plate bending or folding commences on the 22nd day
in week 3. At a time when most women do not yet know for sure that they
are pregnant, these momentous occurrences are taking place. The frontal
portion of the tube closes on day 24, helping to enclose the place where the
brain will continue development. On day 30, during week 5 of gestation, the
closure of the neural tube’s other end takes place. An elementary ventricular
system starts to form and inside the central canal amniotic fluid becomes
trapped. The closure of the neural tube prompts an increase in intraven
tricular fluid pressure; this signals the onset of swift brain enlargement
(Figures 1.8–1.10).
At this stage, the human brain develops with remarkable speed accompanied
by an enormous degree of organization. How fast does the brain grow and for
how long? This initial phase of brain development spans the first half of gesta
tion and is accompanied by rapid neuron creation and differentiation, up to
approximately one‐fourth of a million neurons per minute, and by the migra
tion of these newly created neurons toward the surface of the outer brain,
where they play a fundamental role in the formation of different compart
ments, or pre‐compartments, within the brain. This establishment of vast
numbers of brain faculties continues after birth, especially up to 6 years of age,
and lasts until puberty. In size and organization, no other life form on planet
earth comes close to the capacity of this magnificent instrument, which is all
the more remarkable since the human brain weighs only about 3 lb (1,300–
1,400 g). The adult human brain comprises only about 2% of the body’s total
weight, yet it contains a disproportionate percentage (10%) of the total number
of human cells in the body. To better understand the brain is to marvel at its