Visuo-spatial processing in autism--testing the predictions of extreme male brain theory.
It has been hypothesised that autism is an extreme version of the male brain, caused by high levels of prenatal testosterone (Baron-Cohen 1999). To test this proposal, associations were assessed between three visuo-spatial tasks and prenatal testosterone, indexed in second-to-fourth digit length ratios (2D:4D). The study included children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD (N = 28), and chronological as well as mental age matched typically-developing children (N = 31). While the group with ASD outperformed the control group at Mental Rotation and Figure-Disembedding, these group differences were not related to differences in prenatal testosterone level. Previous findings of an association between Targeting and 2D:4D were replicated in typically-developing children and children with ASD. The implications of these results for the extreme male brain (EMB) theory of autism are discussed.
Falter
Christine M
CM
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK. cmf42@cam.ac.uk
Plaisted
Kate C
KC
Davis
Greg
G
D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012399:Rotation; D013028:Space Perception; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D014796:Visual Perception
D013739:Testosterone