New Study Finds Sex Differences in Autistic Brains

In recent years, clinicians, researchers, and other professionals working in the field of autism have become increasingly aware of the differences between autistic girls and boys when it comes to how they experience and present symptoms.¹ Yet despite this awareness, there has been little reliable information about the differences between autistic boys’ and girls’ brains.

One recent study² aimed to redress the situation by attempting to answer whether neurology—and in particular, brain function organisation—differed between males and females with autism. This study, which analysed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of 773 autistic children—637 boys and 136 girls—revealed significant differences between the brains of autistic boys and autistic girls. What's more, when the researchers applied the algorithms they had developed to the brains of neurotypical girls and boys, they didn’t find the same differences—suggesting that they are unique to autism.

One of the main findings from the study is that girls with autism had a functional brain organisation that significantly differed from boys with autism. The study revealed different areas of connectivity between girls and boys in various brain centres, including the brain's motor, language, and visuospatial attention systems. This fundamental difference in brain organisation likely underpins the differing clinical symptoms that girls and boys tend to present.

Source: Kevin Gent, Unsplash

Implications for Clinical Practice and Other Professionals

The implications of this study are significant and could help encourage increased awareness of the different ways that girls and boys experience autism. As the study's lead author Dr. Kaustubh Supekar noted in a statement, “When you see that there are differences in regions of the brain that are related to clinical symptoms of autism, this seems more real.”

Countless autistic girls have been under- or misdiagnosed to date and many have not received the support they need. The findings from this research could help redress that imbalance. With regard to clinical diagnosis, Dr. Supekar suggests that “we may need to have different tests for females compared with males. The algorithms we developed may help to improve diagnosis of autism in girls.”

Studies like this one, which provide neurological evidence of the differences between males and females with autism, could help pave the way to a more nuanced approach to diagnosis and treatment—one that takes sex and gender into account.