If you are seeking answers to better understand what autism really is, then read this for a fascinating explanation of what autism is inside the brain.

So while scientists and researchers still try to discover the causes of all the different types of autism, one thing is a little more clear; and that’s what autism is in many cases. It’s important to understand the difference of what causes autism and what the result of autism is. Here is my understanding of what autism is inside the brain.

Let’s say that autism already caught you by surprise by the time your child turned 18 months. Whatever caused it, already happened and is likely still taking place. Now with that behind us, let’s look at the after affects.

It’s a lot like a car accident, but without any broken metal and glass. Just a broken heart instead. All of a sudden your car is upside down in a creek off the road and you don’t know why; you just know what you have to do now; and you have to get help.

Now let’s go inside the brain. Imagine for a moment, if you will, a golf ball. Now imagine that golf ball having a few wires branch out from it all around the ball. Now imagine you have two of them and each one has an electric current going through them and they could be connected to a light bulb. And if those golf balls get close enough for their branched out wires to touch, then the light bulb would come on.

Did a light bulb just come on above your head? If not yet, it will in a moment, because those two golf balls with wires all around them are like the neurons in our brains. Except that we don’t only have two of them. Instead we have 100 billion of them, and it is important that those wires which are actually called dendritic spines to come in close contact with each other. When they don’t get close enough, then the signal never gets sent to the next neuron. Those neurons are the brain cells we all must have in order to remember things and function properly. When they go bad, so do our functions and memories.

Neurons store chemicals and electric charges. Much like a battery does. And the reason that we see regression or backwards development in children with autism at around 18 months or so, is because those spines on the neurons get disturbed and can actually mutate, not fully develop, or have altered function from chemical influences such as glutamate, glycine, and others.

Take a look at this YouTube video of how neurons function.

Autism takes place when these dendrites don’t connect with other dentrites in a process called synapse–which basically means communicate.

So now that you know what happens inside the brain of an autistic child, this can hopefully help you understand the complexity of autism itself. As a result of the mutated and/or underdeveloped dendrite spines of an autistic person’s brain, the final result can be seen on the outside as autistic behavior, sensory dysfunction, and multiple other internal disorders.

The cure lies in understanding, but is understanding this much enough? No. Otherwise a cure would already exist. But it is something to think about as to what can influence the neuron function. Researchers already know of some compounds that can help the neurons function better if they are not damaged and instead underdeveloped. They are so close, in fact, that clinical trials are set to begin on 10 girls with Rett Syndrome beginning the Fall of 2010. If all goes well as it has proven to in mice, then a real treatment option will be available via prescription for girls with Rett Syndrome which could also open up the doors to many other forms of autism and autism-like disorders.