Sex Differences in the Brain: Implications for Explaining Autism

Simon Baron-Cohen
Rebecca C Knickmeyer
Matthew K Belmonte

Science 310(5749):819-823 (4 November 2005).
Comment in Science 311(5763):952 (17 February 2006).

ABSTRACT

Empathising is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behaviour of agents (usually people) by inferring their mental states and responding to these with an appropriate emotion. Systemising is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behaviour of nonagentive deterministic systems by analysing input-operation-output relations and inferring the rules that govern such systems. At a population level, females are stronger empathisers and males are stronger systemisers. The "extreme male brain theory" posits that autism represents an extreme of the male pattern (impaired empathising and enhanced systemising). Here we suggest that specific aspects of autistic neuroanatomy may also be extremes of typical male neuroanatomy.

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CITED IN MY OTHER PUBLICATIONS:

  1. Belmonte MK, Mazziotta JC, Minshew NJ, Evans AC, Courchesne E, Dager SR, Bookheimer SY, Aylward EH, Amaral DG, Cantor RM, Chugani DC, Dale AM, Davatzikos C, Gerig G, Herbert MR, Lainhart JE, Murphy DG, Piven J, Reiss AL, Schultz RT, Zeffiro TA, Levi-Pearl S, Lajonchere C, Colamarino SA. Offering to share: How to put heads together in autism neuroimaging. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 38(1):2-13 (January 2008).