Autism Spectrum Disorder: Boys & Girls With Autism Behave Differently, Reveals Study

A new study has revealed that boys with autism behave differently from girls with autism.

The study published in the journal Molecular Autism showed that the repetitive and restrictive behaviors common in autism are more evident in boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) compared to girls with ASD. It was also found that the brain structures of girls with ASD differ from boys who do have it.

HealthDay reports that Kaustubh Supekar, study lead author, said: "Our findings suggest a potential factor that may contribute to the relatively low proportion of females with autism." Supekar is a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

Supekar added that repetitive and restrictive behaviors evident in those with ASD, like repetitive motions or a single focus on just one particular area of interest, are red-flag signals which may help determine those who need to be evaluated for the disorder.

"Our findings raise the possibility that girls with less prominent repetitive and restrictive behaviors may miss being tested for autism or get misclassified as social communication disorder," said Supekar.

"On the other hand, boys with more pronounced repetitive and restrictive behaviors may show more false positives for autism spectrum disorders, given that repetitive and restricted behaviors are not specific to children with autism and are also observed in other neurodevelopmental disorders," Supekar added.

The researchers, through the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR), compared the symptoms of 128 ASD girls and 614 ASD boys. They were matched based on age and IQ levels.

The researchers then checked for MRI brain scan results for ASD and non-ASD children, through a public database. Another analysis was then made in a group of 25 ASD girls, 25 ASD boys, 19 typically developing girls and 19 typically developing boys, all of which were matched by age and IQ level.

Both investigations showed that boys had more severe repetitive behaviors than the girls. Social and communication issues were the same between sexes.

It was also found, through MRI, that between the sexes there were differences in parts of the brain that were related to movement. However, for those with no autism, such differences were not found.

"Autism has primarily been studied from the viewpoint of boys with the disorder," said the study's senior author, Vinod Menon, via Stanford Medicine. "Understanding gender differences can help in identifying the behavioral skills that are most important to remediate in girls vis-a-vis boys."

"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 explains.

YouthIndependent.com reports that the study's findings may help healthcare officials diagnose boys and girls for autism better.