The DOI matches its Crossref record; 16 of the 16 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Testing the Empathizing–Systemizing theory of sex differences and the Extreme Male Brain theory of autism in half a million people
Open accessAbstract
The Empathizing–Systemizing (E-S) theory of typical sex differences suggests that individuals may be classified based on empathy and systemizing. An extension of the E-S theory, the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory suggests that autistic people on average have a shift towards a more masculinized brain along the E-S dimensions. Both theories have been investigated in small sample sizes, limiting their generalizability. Here we leverage two large datasets (discovery n = 671,606, including 36,648 autistic individuals primarily; and validation n = 14,354, including 226 autistic individuals) to investigate 10 predictions of the E-S and the EMB theories. In the discovery dataset, typical females on average showed higher scores on short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ), and typical males on average showed higher scores on short forms of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Systemizing Quotient (SQ). Typical sex differences in these measures were attenuated in autistic individuals. Analysis of “brain types” revealed that typical females on average were more likely to be Type E (EQ > SQ) or Extreme Type E and that typical males on average were more likely to be Type S (SQ > EQ) or Extreme Type S. In both datasets, autistic individuals, regardless of their reported sex, on average were “masculinized.” Finally, we demonstrate that D-scores (difference between EQ and SQ) account for 19 times more of the variance in autistic traits (43%) than do other demographic variables including sex. Our results provide robust evidence in support of both the E-S and EMB theories.
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Citations
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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“To understand how D-scores predict scores on the AQ-10, we conducted multiple regression analysis using two models.”
Self-citationTime to give up on a single explanation for autism
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Prevalence of autism-spectrum conditions: UK school-based population study
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Self-citationAutism: The Empathizing–Systemizing (E‐S) Theory
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Self-citationWhy are autism spectrum conditions more prevalent in males?
Baron-Cohen, S., Lombardo, M. V., Auyeung, B., Ashwin, E., Chakrabarti, B., & Knickmeyer, R. (2011) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001081 · Cited by 754
Self-citationGenetic Heterogeneity Between the Three Components of the Autism Spectrum: A Twin Study
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Self-citationElevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism
Baron-Cohen, S., Auyeung, B., Nørgaard-Pedersen, B., Hougaard, D. M., Abdallah, M. W., Melgaard, L., Cohen, A. S., Chakrabarti, B., Ruta, L., & Lombardo, M. V. (2015) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2014.48 · Cited by 471 · cited 1×
“The EMB theory has also led to studies of sex-linked prenatal etiological factors, such as confirming elevated prenatal sex steroids (34), elevated circulating sex steroids in autistic females (35), and elevated rates of steroidopathy in autistic females, including elevated rates of polycystic ovary syndrome (24, 36).”
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Cited by
Warrier, V., Greenberg, D. M., Weir, E., Buckingham, C., Smith, P., Lai, M.-C., Allison, C., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2020) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17794-1 · Cited by 595
Self-citationAutism spectrum heterogeneity: fact or artifact?
Mottron, L., & Bzdok, D. (2020) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-020-0748-y · Cited by 332
Neurodiversity and the social ecology of mental functions
Chapman, R. (2021) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620959833 · Cited by 267
Sex and gender in neurodevelopmental conditions
Bölte, S., Neufeld, J., Marschik, P. B., Williams, Z. J., Gallagher, L., & Lai, M.-C. (2023) · Nature Reviews Neurology · doi:10.1038/s41582-023-00774-6 · Cited by 249
Griffiths, S., Allison, C., Kenny, R., Holt, R., Smith, P., & Baron‐Cohen, S. (2019) · Autism Research · doi:10.1002/aur.2162 · Cited by 246
Self-citationSex differences in neurodevelopmental disorders
May, T., Adesina, I., McGillivray, J., & Rinehart, N. J. (2019) · Current Opinion in Neurology · doi:10.1097/wco.0000000000000714 · Cited by 235
Baron-Cohen, S., Tsompanidis, A., Auyeung, B., Nørgaard-Pedersen, B., Hougaard, D. M., Abdallah, M., Cohen, A., & Pohl, A. (2020) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0454-9 · Cited by 200
Self-citationMen, women and STEM: Why the differences and what should be done?
Stewart-Williams, S., & Halsey, L. G. (2021) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1177/0890207020962326 · Cited by 117
Social and non-social autism symptoms and trait domains are genetically dissociable
Warrier, V., Toro, R., Won, H., Leblond, C. S., Cliquet, F., Delorme, R., De Witte, W., Bralten, J., Chakrabarti, B., Børglum, A. D., et al. (2019) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-019-0558-4 · Cited by 94
Self-citationAssociation between early androgens and autistic traits: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Coscini, N., Williams, K., Chew, D., Pang, K. C., O’Connell, M. A., & May, T. (2021) · Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101789 · Cited by 10
Metadata
- Authors
- Greenberg, D. M., Warrier, V., Allison, C., & Baron-Cohen, S.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2018-11-12
- Volume
- 115
- Issue
- 48
- Pages
- 12152-12157
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- OpenAlex
- W2901961785
- Cited by
- 336
- References
- 16
- FWCI
- 16.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
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