Visuo-spatial processing in autism--testing the predictions of extreme male brain theory.
Autistic kids can beat peers on spatial puzzles, yet finger-length testosterone markers do not explain why.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested the kids with autism and 40 typical kids. .
They gave three visuo-spatial tasks: mental rotation, hidden-figures, and a dart-like targeting game.
They also measured each child's finger-length ratio (2D:4D) as a stand-in for prenatal testosterone.
What they found
Autistic kids scored higher on mental rotation and found hidden shapes faster.
But their finger ratios did not predict these scores.
Only the dart game linked to finger ratio, and that pattern matched earlier studies.
How this fits with other research
Alonso Soriano et al. (2015) ran the same hidden-figures task with teens and found no speed edge for ASD. The newer automated test may explain the null result.
Harrop et al. (2018) looked at social attention and found ASD girls acted like typical girls, not like ASD boys. This directly clashes with the extreme-male-brain idea.
Pielech et al. (2016) used brain scans during social tasks and saw atypical activity only in ASD boys, not girls. The neural data back up Clare’s behavioral finding.
Iarocci et al. (2006) showed autistic kids shift attention based on task rules, not picture structure. This helps explain why hidden-figures results vary across studies.
Why it matters
If you test visuo-spatial skills, expect some autistic learners to excel, but do not assume biology drives it. Use clear task instructions and watch for sex differences in social tasks. The extreme-male-brain label is too simple for real kids.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
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.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2008 · doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0419-8