Light on Facts, Heavy on Spin

August 14th, 2006 Central Archivist Posted in Commentary |

RUSH LIMBAUGH (HERE WE GO AGAIN) is a brilliant political commentator, but really should keep his mouth shut when it comes to matters science. 

In his morning commentary of August 14, Limbaugh referenced a paper published in Nature Neuroscience that talks about the first appearance of neurons in the developing human fetus.  These cells appear about 31 days after fertilization.  Then he made the following points:

1. The neurons would go on to form the cerebral cortex, the part that “makes a human a human;”
2. This happens well before the end of the first trimester;
3. The mainstream media is not reporting this as it would interfere with their pro-abortion agenda.

This is not the place to discuss the rightness or wrongness of abortion.  However, we are more than happy to discuss sloppy science reporting — and that’s what Limbaugh has engaged in.

The cells in question are associated with the cerebral cortex, but they are “predecessor cells.”  One of the paper’s authors, Pasko Rakic, described the cells thusly:

“We hypothesize that these predecessor neurons may be a transient population involved in determining the number of functional radial units including the human specific regions of the cerebral cortex mediating higher cognitive functions.”

As to the second point, Limbaugh is correct that 31 days is well before the end of the first trimester.  However, the development of these cells at that early stage has little bearing on any arguments for or against first-trimester abortions.  The cells appear at the end of the first month, but there is no discernible brain activity before, at the earliest, seven weeks and usually 10 weeks — and even this is brainstem activity (automatic “housekeeping” stuff, not thinking).  Higher-level brain functions don’t typically kick in until 22 to 26 weeks into development.

As to his third point, I found the article reported in Science Daily.  It’s pretty dry reading and not something to which most people would give a second glance.  That leftist commentators did not spin this for political advantage simply means they were as little interested in it as the average reader might be.  Leave it to Limbaugh to turn disinterest into a left-wing conspiracy.

In Catholicism there are two broad categories of sins:  sins of commission and sins of omission.  Limbaugh’s selective reporting is a form of the latter, and ironically, the same tactic he accuses the mainstream media of using.

Researchers Identify Very First Neurons In The ‘Thinking’ Brain