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Cognition in males and females with autism: Similarities and differences
Lai, Meng C. Lombardo, M. V. Ruigrok, Amber N. V. Chakrabarti, B. Wheelwright, Sally J. Auyeung, B. Allison, Carrie Bailey, Anthony J. Baron-Cohen, S. Bolton, Patrick F.
Lai, Meng C.
Lombardo, M. V.
Ruigrok, Amber N. V.
Chakrabarti, B.
Wheelwright, Sally J.
Auyeung, B.
Allison, Carrie
Bailey, Anthony J.
Baron-Cohen, S.
Bolton, Patrick F.
Author
Lai, Meng C.
Lombardo, M. V.
Ruigrok, Amber N. V.
Chakrabarti, B.
Wheelwright, Sally J.
Auyeung, B.
Allison, Carrie
Bailey, Anthony J.
Baron-Cohen, S.
Bolton, Patrick F.
Bullmore, E. T.
Carrington, Sarah
Catani, Marco
Craig, Michael C.
Daly, E. M.
Deoni, Sean C. L.
Ecker, Christine
Happé, Francesca
Henty, Julian
Jezzard, Peter
Johnston, Patrick
Jones, Derek Kenton
Madden, Anya
Mullins, Diane
Murphy, Clodagh M.
Murphy, Declan
Pasco, Greg
Sadek, Susan A.
Spain, Debbie
Stewart, Rose
Suckling, John
Willia, Steven C.
Baron-Cohen, Simon
Lombardo, M. V.
Ruigrok, Amber N. V.
Chakrabarti, B.
Wheelwright, Sally J.
Auyeung, B.
Allison, Carrie
Bailey, Anthony J.
Baron-Cohen, S.
Bolton, Patrick F.
Bullmore, E. T.
Carrington, Sarah
Catani, Marco
Craig, Michael C.
Daly, E. M.
Deoni, Sean C. L.
Ecker, Christine
Happé, Francesca
Henty, Julian
Jezzard, Peter
Johnston, Patrick
Jones, Derek Kenton
Madden, Anya
Mullins, Diane
Murphy, Clodagh M.
Murphy, Declan
Pasco, Greg
Sadek, Susan A.
Spain, Debbie
Stewart, Rose
Suckling, John
Willia, Steven C.
Baron-Cohen, Simon
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Date
2012
Type
Journal article
Journal
PLoS ONE
Book
Volume
7
Issue
10
Page Range
1-15
Article Number
ACU Department
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
File Access
Controlled
Notes
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This work is licensed under a [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.