Fever can unlock autism's grip: study

[Fleshdancer]

I was planning on posting this in GD, but since Chavez doesn't have autism or a fever, I thought the thread would drop too fast. I thought this was an interesting article to share....

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2921232720071203?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=22&sp=true

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Fever can temporarily unlock autism's grip on children, a finding that could shed light on the roots of the condition and perhaps provide clues for treatment, researchers reported on Monday.

It appears that fever restores nerve cell communications in regions of the autistic brain, restoring a child's ability to interact and socialize during the fever, the study said.

"The results of this study are important because they show us that the autistic brain is plastic, or capable of altering current connections and forming new ones in response to different experiences or conditions," said Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a pediatric neurologist at Baltimore's Kennedy Krieger Institute, who was one of the study authors.