title: Individual differences in autistic traits predict the perception of direct gaze for males, but not for females.
abstract: Despite the emphasis of autism spectrum disorders as a continuum of atypical social behaviors and the sexual heterogeneity of phenotypic manifestations, whether gaze processing constitutes an autistic endophenotype in both sexes remains unclear. Using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient and a psychophysical approach in a normal population (N = 128), here we demonstrated that individual differences in autistic traits predicted direct-gaze perception for males, but not for females. Our findings suggest that direct-gaze perception may not constitute an autistic endophenotype in both sexes, and highlight the importance of sex differences when considering relationships between autistic traits and behaviors.
authors: Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan. matsuyoshi@fennel.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Matsuyoshi
authors: Kana
authors: K
authors: Kuraguchi
authors: Yumiko
authors: Y
authors: Tanaka
authors: Seina
authors: S
authors: Uchida
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Ashida
authors: Katsumi
authors: K
authors: Watanabe