A new study suggests that autism behaviors vary among genders, wherein boys with autism display more repetitive and restricted behavior than girls. Aside from the behavioral differences, researchers also observed differences in certain areas of the brains between girls and boys.
Kaustubh Supekar, the study lead and a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and his colleagues looked at the data of 800 children with ages 7 to 13 and who were diagnosed with autism. They wanted to know whether there are significant behavioral differences among genders and whether certain areas of the brain could explain these differences.
The researchers examined the participants' scores on social behavior and communication, including repetitive and restricted behaviors and compared the average scores of the boys and girls. They also looked at the brain scans of the participants.
The behavioral analysis showed that boys are three times more likely to display repetitive and restricted behaviors compared to girls. There are also differences in the brain scan analysis.
"Girls and boys with autism differ in their clinical and neurobiological characteristics, and their brains are patterned in ways that contribute differently to behavioral impairments," Vinod Menon, study senior author and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said in a press release.
The findings of the study can be beneficial in the improvement of diagnosing girls with autism. Earlier studies suggest that girls are often misdiagnosed, resulting to inappropriate treatment.
"The discovery of gender differences in both behavioral and brain measures suggests that clinicians may want to focus diagnosis and treatments for autistic girls differently than boys," Supekar added.
Despite the promising results of the study, not everyone is convinced that it is about time to change how girls are diagnosed and treated.
"The sample size is small -- 25 children in each group -- and the finding is not especially dramatic. It is impossible to know how much these findings might apply to autism spectrum disorders more broadly. And the link between brain findings and behavioral observations may merely reflect correlation, not causation," Dr. Glen Elliott, chief psychiatrist and medical director of Children's Health Council in Palo Alto, Calif. who is not part of the study, told HealthDay News.
The study was published in the Sept. 3 issue of the journal Molecular Autism.
