Attenuation of Typical Sex Differences in 800 Adults with Autism vs. 3,900 Controls
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Sex differences have been reported in autistic traits and systemizing (male advantage), and empathizing (female advantage) among typically developing individuals. In individuals with autism, these cognitive-behavioural profiles correspond to predictions from the "extreme male brain" (EMB) theory of autism (extreme scores on autistic traits and systemizing, below average on empathizing). Sex differences within autism, however, have been under-investigated. Here we show in 811 adults (454 females) with autism and 3,906 age-matched typical control adults (2,562 females) who completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Systemizing Quotient-Revised (SQ-R), and the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), that typical females on average scored higher on the EQ, typical males scored higher on the SQ-R and AQ, and both males and females with autism showed a shift toward the extreme of the "male profile" on these measures and in the distribution of "brain types" (the discrepancy between standardized EQ and SQ-R scores). Further, normative sex differences are attenuated but not abolished in adults with autism. The findings provide strong support for the EMB theory of autism, and highlight differences between males and females with autism.
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The elevation in restricted and repetitive behavior in male children and male adults with and without ASD is consistent with a male focus on regularity in the behavior of non-social objects and events.
“The elevation in restricted and repetitive behavior in male children and male adults with and without ASD is consistent with a male focus on regularity in the behavior of non-social objects and events [19, 42, 43].”
From Early sex differences are not autism-specific: A Baby Siblings Research Consortium (BSRC) study (2015) · cites this paper as [43]
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Systemizing and the gender gap: examining academic achievement and perseverance in STEM
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Mirror-Touch Synaesthesia Is Not Associated with Heightened Empathy, and Can Occur with Autism
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Self-citationIs Older Age Associated with Higher Self- and Other-Rated ASD Characteristics?
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Autistic Traits, Empathizing–Systemizing, and Gender Diversity
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The Power of Systemizing in Autism
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- Authors
- Baron-Cohen, S., Cassidy, S., Auyeung, B., Allison, C., Achoukhi, M., Robertson, S., Pohl, A., & Lai, M.-C.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- National Health Service (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lai, Meng-Chuan
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2014-07-16
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- e102251
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4100876
- OpenAlex
- W2132880989
- Cited by
- 177
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 11.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Coventry University Open Collections (Coventry university) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- The Open Collections (Coventry University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Medical Research Council
- Wolfson College, University of Cambridge
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, sex differences, extreme male brain theory, autistic traits, systemizing, empathizing, Empathy Quotient, Autism Spectrum Quotient, autistic adults
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Autistic Disorder, Cognition, Empathy, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Characteristics, Case-Control Studies, Young Adult
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