This website is a showcase for my writing. However, I don’t just write fiction. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS), which remains a poorly-understood condition, particulaly in women. Following my diagnosis, I set out to understand what AS was, its causes, and its effects.
In short, I did a great deal of reading and delved deeply into the scientific literature, which itself is far from reaching a consensus. My reading pointed towards AS being a hypo-dopaminergic disorder (similiar to ADHD, although very different in its visible symptoms) and this is the idea I pursued. To order my thoughts, I began to write them down.
This evolved into a scientific paper of my own, which is a review of the literature on hypo-dopaminergic conditions and my hypothesis on how AS fits into this model. Since I am not a qualified neurologist attached to an academic institution, paying the fee necessary for publication in a recognised scientific journal is beyond my means, although I would greatly prefer to publish it following peer-review. Therefore I present my paper here in the hope that it might eventually contribute in some way to the ongoing research on AS.
https://independent.academia.edu/SwainstonStephanie
https://www.academia.edu/39324643/Dopamine_Turnover_in_Asperger_Syndrome
I don’t know if many researchers have fans, but you are now an example of a researcher with at least one devoted fan.
Further evidence for mitigating effects of estrogen on dopamine turnover, through decreased expression of DATs (the dopamine transporter). Therefore one of the possible mechanisms for the “female protective effect” in Asperger Syndrome:
https://www.academia.edu/26712856/Estrogen_and_the_development_and_protection_of_nigrostriatal_dopaminergic_neurons_Concerted_action_of_a_multitude_of_signals_protective_molecules_and_growth_factors?email_work_card=title
https://www.academia.edu/26712880/Oestrogen_Regulates_the_Expression_and_Function_of_Dopamine_Transporters_in_Astrocytes_of_the_Nigrostriatal_System?email_work_card=interaction_paper
Dopamine has been similarly observed to regulate social reward-seeking behaviour in animals: male starlings with reduced dopamine signalling stop singing to attract mates. Female starlings with reduced DA signalling become less likely to respond to male overtures.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2603065/
https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/448191
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19356680
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26079111
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28985327
More on estrogenic protection:
https://www.academia.edu/26712850/Estrogen_regulates_tyrosine_hydroxylase_expression_in_the_neonate_mouse_midbrain?email_work_card=title
https://www.academia.edu/26712829/Gender-specific_role_of_mitochondria_in_the_vulnerability_of_6-hydroxydopamine-treated_mesencephalic_neurons?email_work_card=view-paper
https://www.academia.edu/26712858/Estrogen_and_the_regulation_of_mitochondrial_structure_and_function_in_the_brain