title: Sex-Related Cognitive Profile in Autism Spectrum Disorders Diagnosed Late in Life: Implications for the Female Autistic Phenotype.
abstract: Females with high-functioning ASD are known to camouflage their autistic symptoms better than their male counterparts, making them prone to being under-ascertained and delayed in diagnostic assessment. Thus far the underlying cognitive processes that enable such successful socio-communicative adaptation are not well understood. The current results show sex-related differences in the cognitive profile of ASD individuals, which were diagnosed late in life exclusively. Higher verbal abilities were found in males (n = 69) as opposed to higher processing speed and better executive functions in females with ASD (n = 38). Since both sexes remained unidentified during childhood and adolescence, these results are suggestive for sex-distinctive cognitive strategies as an alternative to typically-developed reciprocal social behavior and social mimicry in high functioning ASD.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany. fritz-georg.lehnhardt@uk-koeln.de.
authors: Fritz-Georg
authors: FG
authors: Lehnhardt
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Christine Michaela
authors: CM
authors: Falter
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Astrid
authors: A
authors: Gawronski
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Kathleen
authors: K
authors: Pfeiffer
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Ralf
authors: R
authors: Tepest
authors: Institute of Medical Statistics, Computer Science and Epidemiology (IMSIE), University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Jeremy
authors: J
authors: Franklin
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.|Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - Cognitive Neurosciences (INM-3), Research Center Juelich, 52425, Juelich, Germany.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Vogeley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010641:Phenotype; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014705:Verbal Behavior
keywords: Adulthood; Autism spectrum disorder; Cognitive profile; Female autistic phenotype; Processing speed