A 2008 Pentagon study makes the suggestion that Russian President Vladimir Putin has Asperger's syndrome, "an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions," according to USA Today.
Brenda Connors, research fellow at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., wrote that Putin's "neurological development was significantly interrupted in infancy," and reveals "that the Russian President carries a neurological abnormality," according to USA Today.
Connors is one of the contractors for the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), a think tank dedicated to military strategy. Although the group can't prove the diagnosis without a brain scan, according to USA Today, autism specialists support the group's theory.
Stephen Porges, a psychiatry professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is quoted in the 2008 study as saying, "Putin carries a form of autism," but Porges told USA Today that he never saw the report after it was completed and he "would back off saying he (Putin) has Asperger's."
Porges suggested that instead of analyzing Putin's facial expressions and behavior during large, public gatherings when he would be the most defensive, the best place to observe possible autistic traits would be in a quieter setting.
"If you need to do things with him, you don't want to be in a big state affair but more of one-on-one situation someplace somewhere quiet," Porges told USA Today.
