MICHAEL GANNON: There's this concept of plasticity, where the interconnecting nerves of the brain continue to form as we develop. There's a great deal of evidence to show that if you make the diagnosis when it can be made, closer to the age of two or three, you're going to have a lot better outcomes than if you don't make the diagnosis until the age of five or six.
Neuroplasticity is a key interest of mine, so I'll lay out the basics in laymans' terms and then talk about how it applies to Mente. (As far as my understanding goes. If you know better, by all means, I encourage you to correct me).
Recently, popular consensus in neuroscience has shifted away from the belief that the human brain is of a, more or less, fixed structure (Particularly in adulthood), to the view that the brain is plastic. Ie: We continue to learn new things and shape our brains in powerful ways throughout our lives. A protein called Myelin (white matter) then strengthens the nerve fibers that get used most frequently. As we age the supply of myelin decreases but never dies out completely. Children are myelin generating machines, soaking up information about the world and themselves. Introducing positive change early in a child's development is imperative. Hence the emphasis on early diagnosis.
A specialist helps to rewire an autistic child's neural connections. These are things like social cues and techniques to calm the noisy, overly-stimulated brain (It's a spectrum disorder, so symptoms vary wildly from person to person). With enough practice these neural connections become well insulated and help the autistic person cope long after the therapy sessions have concluded. Imagine the cost of all those one-on-one sessions over the span of several years. Which brings us to Mente.
You'd still need a doctor to diagnose the disorder, but Mente would serve as an invaluable tool during treatment. In some ways it bypasses the need for a specialist, operating via a feedback-loop that is potentially far more effective than traditional therapies.
To those of you who sent emails, bless you!
If we extend this functionality to include other neurological conditions, NTI's sitting on a world of possibilities. And then there's the data.
