ArticlePloS one2015
Testing the 'Extreme Female Brain' Theory of Psychosis in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder with or without Co-Morbid Psychosis.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Paranoia and Data-Gathering Biases in Autism.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- The influence of sex on major psychiatric comorbidities and parental psychiatric disorders in 22,698 children and adolescents with ICD-9-CM-based autism spectrum disorder.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2024Article
- Adding a Dimension to the Dichotomy: Affective Processes Are Implicated in the Relationship Between Autistic and Schizotypal Traits.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Patterns of Psychiatric Comorbidity and Genetic Correlations Provide New Insights Into Differences Between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder.Biological psychiatry · 2019Article
- Empathy in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2019Article
- A 16-Year Cohort Analysis of Autism Spectrum Disorder-Associated Morbidity in a Pediatric Population.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Article
- Analysis of Human Brain Structure Reveals that the Brain "Types" Typical of Males Are Also Typical of Females, and Vice Versa.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2018Article
- Beyond sex differences: new approaches for thinking about variation in brain structure and function.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2016Review
- Measurement in saliva from neurotypical adults of biomarkers pertinent to autism spectrum disorders.Future science OA · 2015Article
- Differentiating bipolar disorder from schizophrenia: The role of the induced Roelofs illusion.i-PerceptionArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionMales and females in the general population differ, on average, in their drive for empathizing (higher in females) and systemizing (higher in males). People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a drive for systemizing over empathizing, irrespective of sex, which led to the conceptualisation of ASD as an 'extreme of the typical male brain'. The opposite cognitive profile, an 'extreme of the typical female brain', has been proposed to be linked to conditions such as psychosis and mania/hypomania.
methodsWe compared an empathizing-over-systemizing bias (for short 'empathizing bias') in individuals with ASD, who had experienced psychotic illness (N = 64) and who had not (N = 71).
resultsThere were overall differences in the distribution of cognitive style. Adults with ASD who had experienced psychosis were more likely to show an empathizing bias than adults with ASD who had no history of psychosis. This was modulated by IQ, and the group-difference was driven mainly by individuals with above-average IQ. In women with ASD and psychosis, the link between mania/hypomania and an empathizing bias was greater than in men with ASD.
conclusionsThe bias for empathizing over systemizing may be linked to the presence of psychosis in people with ASD. Further research is needed in a variety of clinical populations, to understand the role an empathizing bias may play in the development and manifestation of mental illness.
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Registered trials
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