Risk of autism in the use of assisted reproduction techniques: An analysis from the Transcurssive Logic

This paper investigates the existence of a relationship between assisted reproductive technology (ART), such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and the birth of autistic children. Based on abundant bibliography (Danan et al, 1999; Cummins, 2000; Riva & Giorgi, 2000; Palmen, 2004; Allen, 2005; Tavano et al, 2007; Palmieri & Persico, 2010; Bolduc et al., 2011, 2012; Stoodley et al., 2012; Konopka, 2013; Lyall et al, 2013; Sandin et al, 2013; Chen et al., 2015; Fountain et al., 2015; Siddiqui et al., 2016; Punamäki et al, 2016; Liu et al, 2017; Babinská et al, 2017; Griffiths & Levy, 2017; Liang et al., 2017) propose that the possibility of transference of paternal mitochondrial DNA through these techniques is a determining factor to be taken into account in the alteration of Ca++ homeostasis that has been detected in some autistic patients. This condition would facilitate, according to the theory of psychic functioning (Salatino, 2013, 2016), the cancellation of low frequencies (20 Hz) in the brain, which manage the sociocultural system. If we add to this the decrease in the cerebellar Purkinje cells that are usually found in patients with autism, it would explain the alterations of the psychic structure and function that produce deterioration or lack of language and social treatment shown by these patients. Taking Hempel's nomological-deductive method as a guide and complementing it with transcurssive logic, a reasonable explanation can be given to the following hypothetical case: after the use of the ICSI technique, an autistic child was born. Since this technique gives the possibility that part of the paternal mitochondrial DNA, contained in the sperm, passes to the ovule upon fertilization, and produce a case de paternal heteroplasmy. By reviewing the aforementioned etiological aspects, we were able to predict the appearance of the psychic disorders of these children, taking into account structural and functional aspects of the psychic apparatus, with firm neurobiological bases. The hypothetical case analyzed justifies paternal heteroplasmy as one of the possible causes of autism, according to some of the statistics presented by other authors