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Biochemical and Hematologic Studies: A Critical Review

  • Chapter
Autism

Abstract

Biological studies of psychiatric disease generally rely on examination of cerebrospinal fluid, blood, urine, or other tissues far removed from the brain. Indeed, metabolism in the brain is frequently so rapid that even autopsied brains, when available, shed little light on any but the most gross psychiatric or neurological disorders. Cerebrospinal fluid is physically closest to the brain. Even here, however, evidence suggests that the bulk of its composition of transmitter and transmitter metabolites comes from the local spinal cord rather than the more distant brain. The composition of blood is even more complex since it contains nutrients for and metabolites from the entire body. Similarly, urine is the repository of the entire body’s metabolic wastes and the fraction attributable to the brain is uncertain and usually indistinguishable. Due to these factors it is particularly difficult to design experiments to find significant correlations between biological measures, specific brain functions, and psychiatric syndromes. Even more difficult is the task of critically analyzing such research. One must constantly bear in mind that any differences or correlations noted may be only incidental, or due to factors unrelated to the psychiatric diagnostic categories studied.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Edward R. Ritvo

Authors
  1. Edward R. Ritvo
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  2. Karen Rabin
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  3. Arthur Yuwiler
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  4. B. J. Freeman
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  5. Edward Geller
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, London, England

    Michael Rutter

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Division of Health Affairs, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Eric Schopler

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© 1978 Plenum Press, New York

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Ritvo, E.R., Rabin, K., Yuwiler, A., Freeman, B.J., Geller, E. (1978). Biochemical and Hematologic Studies: A Critical Review. In: Rutter, M., Schopler, E. (eds) Autism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0787-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0787-7_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-0789-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0787-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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