1 – Disruption of maturation
This paper describes the long-term outcome of
monkeys subjected to asphyxia at birth, including
additional abnormalities of the brain that became
evident with maturation.  The acute neuropathology
of birth asphyxia in the monkey (seen within the first 2
weeks to 3 months of life) were summarized as non-
hemorrhagic bilateral focal lesions mainly in relay
nuclei of somesthetic, auditory, and vestibular
systems, and in extrapyramidal cell groups
(subcortical motor control nuclei).  Knowledge by then
of the acute pattern of damage was based on
examination of the brains from more than 50 monkeys.

Monkeys subjected to asphyxia for 11.5 minutes or
more required resuscitation.  Scars of the primary
lesions in the brainstem remained evident 1 to 8
years later, but "cell loss in a more diffuse pattern"
throughout the cerebral cortex and additional
subcortical nuclei was also evident.  This is what Faro
and Windle referred to as "trans-neuronal
degeneration."  Effects on both cortical and
subcortical growth and maturation are described in
the two following sections.

1. Faro MD & Windle WF
   (1969) Transneuronal
   degeneration in brains of
   monkeys asphyxiated at
   birth.
   
2. Egaas B et al (1995)
   Reduced size of corpus
   callosum in autism.
   
3. Piven J et al (1997) An
   MRI study of the corpus
   callosum in autism.
   
4. Grünwald F et al (1993)
   Changes in local cerebral
   glucose utilization in the
   awake rat during acute
   and chronic administration
   of ethanol.
   
5. Rosenhall U et al (1988)
   Oculomotor findings in
   autistic children.
   
6. Miller MT et al (1998) The
   puzzle of autism: an
   ophthalmologic
   contribution.
   
7. Miller MT, Stromland K.
   (1999) The mobius
   sequence: a relook.