Acknowledgments xi Prologue xiii 1 Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorders 1 Smell of Autism 5 The Roundup(tm) Conundrum 7 Testosterone and Male Gender Bias 9 Connecting the Dots 12 Why Is There a "Spectrum" in Autism? 20 Are Genetic Mutations the Cause of Autism? 23 ASD Parent and Affected Child Exome Sequencing Display De Novo Mutation 23 More Than 1,000 Genetic and Genomic Disorders and Still Counting 24 Why Do Certain Chemicals Induce Specific Depletions of Certain Brain Compartments? 30 Genesis of an ASD Brain 31 Pinpointing Critical Steps Where the Autistic Brain Emerges 32 Is Finding Mutations the Path to Discovering the Genesis of ASD? 34 Does Brain Size Matter? 36 How Autism Develops in a Fetal Brain 36 Why Is There a "Spectrum" in ASD? 39 ASD and Vaccines 41 Thimerosal Containing Mercury Stays in the Body and Is Very Toxic 42 Summary 43 References 43 2 What is Autism? 51 Legacy of Autism 51 A Short History of Autism 53 DSM?]5 and the ASD Spectrum 60 Changes in ASD diagnosis approved by the APA 61 The impact of the Recent DSM?]5 Changes on Diagnosis and Support Practices 61 A New ASD Diagnosis Category: Social Communication Disorder 62 ASD or a Giant Spectrum of Socioneuropsychological Disorders 62 Asperger Syndrome 63 Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified 63 Autistic Disorder 64 Rett Syndrome 64 Childhood Disintegrative Disorder 64 Is Autism a Genetic Disease? 65 Synthetic Chemicals Lack Coevolutionary Adaptation 66 Myth of the Genetic Origin of Autism 67 Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Autism 67 Why Fragile X Syndrome or Tuberous Sclerosis Should Not Be Included in ASD 70 Tuberous Sclerosis 71 Is Finding Mutation the Path to Discovering the Origin of ASD? 72 How Quickly Does Human DNA Mutate? 73 What is the Mutation Rate in the Whole Human Genome? 74 Does Brain Size Matter? 74 Genetics versus Environment 75 References 77 3 Olfaction and Autism 83 How Do We Smell? 87 Summary and Conclusions 92 References 92 4 Oxytocin, Arginine Vasopressin and Autism Spectrum Disorder 97 Oxytocin 97 Why Oxytocin Therapy May be Important for ASD? 99 Hormones, Neuropeptide Arginine Vasopressin and Oxytocin in ASD 102 Development of Oxytocin and AVP Neurons in Various Animals and in Man 103 Oxytocin and Social Experience in Development 104 Oxytocin and Developmental Neurological Disorders 106 Exogenous Oxytocin Treatments in Humans 108 Intranasal and Intravenous Oxytocin Studies in ASD 109 Oxytocin Trials in ASD: Beyond the Hype and Hope 110 Summary and Conclusions 112 References 113 5 Male Gender Bias and Levels of Male Hormones During Fetal Development 123 Association between 2D:4D Ratio and Brain Connection Development 129 Male and Female Estrogen and Testosterone Hormone Regulations 130 Are there Synthetic Chemicals that Humans Are Not Evolutionarily Exposed To? 130 Why Male Gender Bias? 131 Male and Female Brains in a Test Tube 132 Effects of Three Different Levels of Testosterone on Neuronal Morphology 133 Molecular Basis of Gender Bias in ASD 134 References 136 6 Maternal Twins and Male Gender Bias in Autism Spectrum Disorders 143 The Conundrum of ASD Discordance in Maternal Twins 146 Role of Environment in Maternal Twins revealed by Numerous Methods under Many Conditions 149 What Types of Discordance are Observed in Maternal Twins? 149 Differences in Frontal and Limbic Brain Activation in Monozygotic Twin Pairs Discordant for Severe Stressful Life Events 150 Structural Connectivity of the Brain of a Child with ASD and That of the Unaffected Identical Twin 150 Differences in Genomic and Epigenomic Expression in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Rett Syndrome 150 Differences in CNV between Discordant Monozygotic Twins with Congenital Heart Defects 151 History of Autism Becoming a Genetic Disease 151 Many Diseases That Were Considered Genetic are Being Reassessed 152 De Novo Mutations 156 To find a Scientific Analysis of ASD Genesis 158 What are Neuroblastomas? 159 What Method Did We Use? 160 Possible Etiologies of Autism 160 Epigenetic Explained 160 Epigenetic Changes and the Environment: How Lifestyle Can Influence Epigenetic Change from One Generation to the Next 161 Factors Other Than Environment That May Be Contributing to ASD 161 Older Age of Mother and Increased Risk 161 Conclusion and Summary 163 References 163 7 Autism and Exposure to Environmental Chemicals 169 Contribution of Fragrances to ASD 178 Effects of Fragrances on Male Oxytocin?]Receptor Positive Neurons 184 Effects of Fragrances on Female Oxytocin?]Receptor Positive Neurons 186 How Synthetic Chemicals in Fragrances Affect Fetal Brain Development 186 Synthetic Musks 186 How Do Synthetic Musks Get Into the Food Chain? 189 How Are People Exposed to Synthetic Musks? 189 Musks in Food 191 Diethyl Phthalate 191 Octinoxate 193 Benzyl Benzoate and Benzyl Salicylate 194 d?]Limonene 194 α?]Pinene 195 Synthetic EDCs 195 Why Is It Important To Look at EDCs and Their Potential Effects on Our Next Generations? 196 Where in Fetal Life Are Androgen Receptors Expressed? 199 Why Testosterone is Essential for Engineering a Male Brain 200 Spatial Memory 207 Anxiety?]Related Behavior 207 Play Fighting and Aggression 208 Adverse Effects of EDCs and Their Mechanisms of Action 208 Effects of Testosterone or AR Mimicking EDCs 211 Early Puberty in Males 214 Change in Sex Ratio 215 Effects of EDCs on Neurodevelopmental and Neuroendocrine Systems 215 EDC Effects on Steroid Hormone Receptors in the Brain 217 Are the EDCs and other Synthetic Chemicals Depopulating the Human Race? 219 Summary 223 References 224 8 Maternal Antibodies to Fetal Brain Neurons and Autism 235 Link between Damage to the Fetal Brain and Maternal Antibodies: A Double Jeopardy 235 Are there Examples of Such an Immune Mechanism? 236 Rh Incompatibility 236 ABO Incompatibility 237 Why are Fetal Neuroantigens Immunogenic to the Maternal Immune System? 238 Is There Any Evidence of a Link Between Synthetic Chemicals Exposure, Neurotoxicity, and Autoimmunity? 241 The Relationship between Autoimmunity and ASD 241 The Detection of Fetal Brain Neuroantigens in the Maternal Blood 241 What are the Functions of the Neuroantigens that are Being Destroyed by the Maternal Antibodies? 243 Animal Models and Neuroantibodies to Autism 245 Rhesus Macaques Model 245 Studies Using Rodent Models 246 Why Do Some Autistic Children Have Bigger Brains? 246 Is There a Link between Autoimmunity and Other Forms of Neurodevelopmental or Neurodegenerative Disorders? 248 A Chicken and Egg Conundrum 250 Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 250 Other Contributing Factors in Neuropsychiatric Disorders 250 Infectious Flu Virus 250 Influenza Vaccine and Narcolepsy 250 Other Viral and Nonviral Infections 252 Blood-Brain Barrier 254 What is the BBB? 254 Summary and Conclusions 256 References 257 9 Vaccines and Autism 261 Childhood Vaccines and Regressive Autism 261 Politics Versus Science in the Vaccination Era 262 A Short Glimpse of the History of Vaccines: Justification for Using Vaccines 264 What is in the Vaccines? 265 Thimerosal 270 What is the Evidence That Organomercurial Vaccines Pose a Higher Risk of Regressive Autism? 272 Why Thimerosal?]Containing Vaccines are Harmful: A Scientific Narrative 273 How Much Mercury is Given to Children Before the Age of 3 years? 274 Why Do Only Small Numbers of Children Develop Regressive Autism After Vaccination? 274 Can Measurements of Abnormal Cytokines Identify Children Who Are at Increased Risk for Regressive ASD? 278 Summary of Contributing Immunological Factors to ASD 278 References 279 Epilogue 287 Index 291.