Autism is an extreme version of the 'male brain' which makes it harder to read others' emotions, a major study suggests.
The world's largest study comparing autism with male personality traits has found striking similarities.
Men, like people with autism, are typically less good with feelings and more likely to want to know how things work.
The world's largest study comparing autism with male personality traits has found striking similarities (stock)
Compared to women, they tend to be more uneasy in social situations, less socially perceptive and may fail to understand why they have caused offence.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge, who analysed personality tests for more than half a million men and women, found both men and autistic people were more 'systematic' than 'empathetic'.
The opposite was seen in women, of whom 40 per cent scored highly for empathy, compared to just 24 per cent of men and 13 per cent of autistic men.
They conclude that being diagnosed with autism may mean having an extreme 'male brain', which can make it easier to obsess over a railway timetable than to work out how someone feels.
The male brain is seen most in men who work in science, technology, engineering and maths-based jobs, and could explain why men are two to three times as likely as women to be diagnosed with autism.
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge, proposed the extreme male brain theory for autism two decades ago, suggesting that men were better at 'systemising' by finding patterns and rules, while women were better at empathising.
As senior author of the new study, he said: 'These results only apply to groups of men and women, on average, not individuals. We cannot use it to say an individual will behave in a certain way.
'But there are evolutionary reasons why it may make sense for more men to have a systemising brain, for survival reasons, to learn different methods of hunting for example.
'Women on average may have developed better empathy, over millions of years, because it was important for child-rearing.
'These results provide strong support for the theory that autism arises as an extreme version of the male brain.'
The study is based on 671,606 people who answered questions on a website for a channel 4 programme called Are You Autistic?
Participants, who included 14,354 people diagnosed with autism, answered questions designed to test their empathy, such as whether people found they were insensitive and if they could understand when people were upset or offended.
They also rated their agreements with statements which showed a systematic approach to life, such as 'I enjoy looking through catalogues of products to see the details of each product and how it compares to others' and 'When travelling by train, I often wonder exactly how the rail networks are coordinated'.
The results show 44 per cent of men are systematic or extreme systematic types, compared to just 27 per cent of women.
This matters because more than half of people with autism have this personality trait, based on a follow-up study of more than 14,000 people.
The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, follows suggestions that autism is linked to over-exposure to the male hormone testosterone in the womb.
But the authors have denied claims of 'neurosexism' based on the differences they identify in male and female brains.
They also make it clear that autistic people do have empathy and care about others, concluding: 'Difficulties with cognitive empathy tend to lead autistic people to avoid or be confused by social situations, rather than to act with cruelty.'
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/11/13/autism-is-an-extreme-version-of-the-male-brain/
Main photo article Autism is an extreme version of the ‘male brain’ which makes it harder to read others’ emotions, a major study suggests.
The world’s largest study comparing autism with male personality traits has found striking similarities.
Men, like people with autism, are typically...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/11/12/17/6094204-6381259-image-a-1_1542043903275.jpg
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