Page 40 - Spring2018

Whereas thimerosal may have lost a critical number of obsessed about small things.
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long-range their long-range axons. These studies indicate When localized processing dominates, it
that their brains try to compensate by sprouting also can lead to disruptions in attention, sen-
axons can be short-range axons, and brain connectivity shifts sory processing and other big-picture think-
compared from long-range to short-range. (Interestingly, ing, as well as poor judgment and perspective.
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to super- in learning delay, also found to be associated Although most children exposed to thimerosal
with thimerosal exposure, research has revealed retain high intelligence, their brains must work
highways, a loss of long-range brain connectivity, but harder because their processing is more compli-
short-range without a concomitant increase in short-range cated and attention requires more effort.
axons are like axons.) IMPLICATIONS
side roads SIDE ROADS VERSUS SUPERHIGHWAYS Observed differences across individuals

with lots of When brain connectivity shifts from with ASD, ADHD or tic disorder are mainly
stop lights. long-range to short-range in individuals with in severity, with some variation in the areas
of the brain most affected. This can depend
thimerosal-induced ASD, ADHD or a tic dis-
order, a sensation or thought has to jump from on when the exposure occurred within the
one short-range neuron to the next and the next developmental process as well as on individual
and the next, instead of traveling quickly down susceptibility. Importantly, the severity of a
a single axon of a long-range neuron. This may given disorder correlates with the severity of
occur, for example, with sensory impulses such abnormal connectivity. In other words, the
as visual or auditory processing (see Figure 3). worse the long-range under-connectivity and
Whereas long-range axons can be compared short-range over-connectivity, the worse the
to superhighways, short-range axons are like severity of the disorder.
side roads with lots of stop lights. You can get It is critical to recognize, therefore, that
where you need to go on a side road, but it can exposure to thimerosal during fetal and infant
be more complicated, time-consuming and ex- development can result in significant brain
hausting. In the brain, this convoluted routing changes. ASD, ADHD and tic disorder all reveal
can result in a drastically decreased processing similar changes to brain structure, showing
speed. It also requires more energy, which can long-range under-connectivity and short-range
be tiring. As a result, the brain may be better over-connectivity. This evidence suggests that
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at localized processing than global processing. the three disorders and possibly other neurode-
This may make it harder to pay attention and velopmental disorders all fall within the broader
process sensory information, and easier to get category of connectivity spectrum disorders,

FIGURE 3: A schematic characterization of the difference between long-range and short-range axons.

38 Wise Traditions SPRING 2018