Testing the Empathizing-Systemizing theory of sex differences and the Extreme Male Brain theory of autism in half a million people.

ABSTRACT: The Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) theory of typical sex differences suggests that individuals may be classified based on empathy and systemizing. An extension of the E-S theory, the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory suggests that autistic people on average have a shift towards a more masculinized brain along the E-S dimensions. Both theories have been investigated in small sample sizes, limiting their generalizability. Here we leverage two large datasets (discovery n = 671,606, including 36,648 autistic individuals primarily; and validation n = 14,354, including 226 autistic individuals) to investigate 10 predictions of the E-S and the EMB theories. In the discovery dataset, typical females on average showed higher scores on short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Sensory

SUBMITTER: Greenberg DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6275492 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature