Lateralized brain dysfunction in autism: evidence from the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery.
Selected tests from the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery were administered to 10 male individuals who had been diagnosed as autistic in early childhood. Results from the battery obtained from the autistic group were compared with a group of retarded persons matched for IQ and with a group of patients with demonstrable diffuse brain damage. As a group, the autistic subjects showed a pattern of deficits indicative of a significantly greater degree of left hemisphere dysfunction than either comparison group. Furthermore, within-subject comparisons revealed that the autistic group had a significantly greater left than right hemisphere dysfunction, while neither comparison group showed this lateralized pattern.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis