Cognition in males and females with autism: similarities and differences

Lai, M.-C., Lombardo, M. V., Ruigrok, A. N. V., Chakrabarti, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6649-7895, Wheelwright, S. J., Auyeung, B., Allison, C. and Baron-Cohen, S. (2012) Cognition in males and females with autism: similarities and differences. PLoS ONE, 7 (10). e47198. ISSN 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047198

Abstract/Summary

The male bias in autism spectrum conditions (ASC) has led to females with ASC being under-researched. This lack of attention to females could hide variability due to sex that may explain some of the heterogeneity within ASC. In this study we investigate four key cognitive domains (mentalizing and emotion perception, executive function, perceptual attention to detail, and motor function) in ASC, to test for similarities and differences between males and females with and without ASC (n = 128 adults; n = 32 per group). In the mentalizing and facial emotion perception domain, males and females with ASC showed similar deficits compared to neurotypical controls. However, in attention to detail and dexterity involving executive function, although males with ASC showed poorer performance relative to neurotypical males, females with ASC performed comparably to neurotypical females. We conclude that performance in the social-cognitive domain is equally impaired in male and female adults with ASC. However, in specific non-social cognitive domains, performance within ASC depends on sex. This suggests that in specific domains, cognitive profiles in ASC are modulated by sex.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/29810
Identification Number/DOI	10.1371/journal.pone.0047198
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) Interdisciplinary centres and themes > ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) Research Network Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience
Publisher	Public Library of Science
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