One feature of brain anatomy that is characteristic of males is associated with an increased risk of autism, according to a [recent study].
Women with male characteristic brains are three times more likely to have autism than women with more “female” brains, the researchers say. Yet the reverse was not been proven true; no evidence indicates that men with more female-trait brains are less at risk for autism than men with typical brains.
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Autism spectrum disorder is two to five times more common in males than in females, according to Christine Ecker, a professor at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany…[Some researchers] hypothesize that sex-related variations in brain anatomy may contribute to the higher risk among males.
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“For example, it is known from previous studies that females tend to have a thicker cortex than males in various regions of the brain,” Ecker [stated]. Previous studies have also shown thickness to be significantly altered in people with autism.
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According to Dr. Tuong-Vi Nguyen, an assistant professor at McGill University in Montreal, the new study is “provocative” with “good methodology.”
“Given that the authors’ predominant theory is that a male-typic brain represents a predisposition to autism, their results only partially confirm this,” she said.
[The study can be found here.]The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: ‘Male brains’ linked to higher autism risk in women, study says