The Great Promise of Brain Research at Harvard

My friend, John Robison, and I have both been supportive of the work being done at the TMS Lab of Harvard Medical School. John has written a nice blurb on his blog (oh, how I hunger for alliteration!):

http://jerobison.blogspot.com/2010/02/join-me-feb-9-for-evening-at-harvard.html

I plan to attend this event, and have personally sent invitations to several people I know in the Asperger's community.

As I learn more about the functioning of the human brain, I become more and more astounded at how little science knows! The brain, it seems, has a mind of its own (so to speak), and is far more plastic (i.e. changeable) than was thought just a few short years ago. Discoveries of such things as mirror neurons have changed the way we think about autism and other learning and coping differences.

I have come to think of autism spectrum conditions (I prefer not to use the term "disorders" since I believe them to be differences, or different orders) and other related conditions (such as bi-polar, depression, ADHD, OCD, and so on) to be all mysteriously related to each other. And, there seems to be much overlap, with one person displaying various combinations of these conditions. In fact, we probably all have these traits; it's just that in some individuals, they seem to predominate.

Anyway, this evening will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the cutting-edge research being done right here in Massachusetts!