Autism Spectrum Disorder Flashcards
What is Baron-Cohen’s hypothesis about autism?
The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems. Autism is the extreme male brain
What is empathizing?
The drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts, and to respond to them with an appropriate emotion. Occurs when we feel an appropriate emotional reaction, an emotion triggered by the other person’s emotion, and it is done in order to understand another person, to predict their behavior, and to connect or resonate with them emotionally.
What is Systemizing?
Systemizing is the drive to analyze, explore and construct a system. The systemizer intuitively figures out how things work or extracts the underlying rules that govern the behavior of a system. This is done in order to understand and predict the system or to invent a new one.
What is the evidence for the heritability of ASD?
Concordance rate for MZ twins is 60-90%. Rate for DZ twins is 20%
What is the M:F ratio of ASD diagnoses?
2-3:1
How do gender and ASD affect the size of certain brain regions?
- Brain regions usually larger in M than F (cerebellum & amygdala) are even larger in ASD
- Brain regions usually smaller in M than F (PFC, thalamus, anterior cingulate, temporal gyrus) are even smaller in ASD
What are the empathizing tests of the male brain and pattern of results?
The higher the score, the greater the empathy. Pattern of results is Women followed by men followed by autistic people
- The Empathy Quotient (EQ)
- Reading the mind in the eyes test
- Facial expression test
- Faux pas test
What are the systemizing tests of the male brain and pattern of results?
The higher the score, the greater the systemizing. Pattern of results is autistic people followed by men followed by women.
- Systemizing quotient (SQ)
- Embedded figures test
List 3 symptoms of ASD that are different between males and females.
- Females with ASD show more sensory symptoms than males with ASD
- Females with ASD present with fewer and different repetitive and restricted behaviors than males with ASD.
- Females with ASD are better able to integrate verbal and non-verbal behaviors and maintain reciprocal conversations than males with ASD
What is the Female Protective Effect (FPE)?
Females with ASD may be protected against some impairments associated with ASD. In order for females to manifest ASD impairments, they require a greater etiological load than males. FPE is sufficiently strong to prevent a small-medium level of genetic disruption from causing impairment in girls, but not a large level, explaining the tendency for females with ASD to present more severe symptoms than males.
What are the 4 potential explanations for lower prevalence of ASD diagnosis in women than men?
- Female protective effect (FPE)
- Women with ASD have a distinct, female phenotype from men that is less frequently detected by diagnostic criteria and screening instruments because current criteria are derived from studies involving predominantly male samples and are therefore likely to be male-specific.
- The female ASD phenotype may be difficult to identify in women with average to above average cognitive level, as they are better able to camouflage their symptoms
- The higher prevalence of ASD in males may be due to the difference in testosterone levels in males and females. e.g. studies have found an assoc. btwn exposure to incr. lvls of fetal testosterone & the dev. of ASD and autistic traits (i.e. the androgen theory of autism) leading to the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) Theory of Autism
What are 3 findings about gender differences, empathy, and ASD?
- No gender differences in self-reported empathy in people with ASD.
- Females and males with ASD are more similar in empathy levels than NT females and males.
- Females with ASD have empathy levels more similar to NT males than NT females.
