Why I Think This Study Is BS

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Ahem: http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2011/07/04 ... serotonin/

Putting the source aside, the study itself doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If people with Autism and Asperger's are prone to being bullied, and those prone to being bullied tend to have low levels of serotonin, how does this make sense? [The opposite is also true; people with high levels of serotonin are prone to being bullies.] Second point, serotonin's primary function is food, getting food, and helping to digest food, then why do so many people with Autism have poor digestive systems, celiac disease, lactose intolerance, and other allergies or intolerances towards food?

The first point has been clarified to state that the neurotransmitters work differently in the first place, but that doesn't explain the weak gut, or why some people who take anti-depressants [which increase serotonin] claim to have "cured" their autism or asperger's. [I saw one or two people on this site on a drug which is apparently an untested antidepressant, and several people off site who went on antidepressants and accordingly regulated their aspie/autist traits.]

What’s bulling got to do with serotonin??? That's an environmental impact. I also could not see bullied...... Seriously looking at something on a chemical level is just insane. Sure they would be allot more at play.

Says it plays a major role in "controlling emotions". Which I question. Mind you I laugh at SSRI adverts.

What does bullying have to do with the study? The term doesn't appear anywhere in the article. I don't understand how or why you're making that connection.

This isn't a challenge, "connections" and patterns is one thing a lot of us are very good at seeing, but in my experience many of us are also not so good at understanding why others can't see the same patterns and connections we see. It happens to me all the time. Connections and patterns that are very obvious to me, I often think ought to be obvious to others too, but they frequently aren't, so I get the same confused questions.

I don't see what your're seeing. Can you explain the connection?