#746 Simon Baron-Cohen: Autism, Systemizing, Empathy, and Sex Differences
Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university’s Autism Research Centre. He has made major contributions to the fields of typical cognitive sex differences, autism prevalence and screening, autism genetics, autism neuroimaging, autism and technical ability, and synesthesia. Dr. Baron-Cohen was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to autistic people. His latest book is The Pattern Seekers: A New Theory of Human Invention.
In this episode, we talk about autism and sex differences. We first talk about autism; what characterizes it; why it is classified as a mental disorder, and the idea of neurodiversity; its early signs; and the lower quality of life of autistic people. We discuss the systemizing mechanism, and the distinction between systemizing and empathizing. We talk about the role of testosterone in intra-uterine development, and differences in the brain development of autistic people. We discuss why the distinction between cognitive and emotional empathy is important. Finally, we talk about sex differences, regions of the brain that might be sexually dimorphic, criticisms of the biological bases of sex differences, and we discuss if it is possible to distinguish between male and female brains.
Time Links:
Intro
What characterizes autism?
Why autism is classified as a mental disorder, and the idea of neurodiversity
The early signs of autism
Do autistic people generally have lower quality of life?
The systemizing mechanism
Systemizing and empathizing
The role of testosterone in intra-uterine development
How intra-uterine development is studied
Differences in brain development in fetuses and infants who are at low or high likelihood for autism
The distinction between cognitive and emotional empathy
Is it possible to enhance emotion recognition in autistic children?
Are there regions of the brain which are sexually dimorphic?
Criticisms of the biological bases of sex differences
Is it possible to distinguish between male and female brains?
Sex differences are average differences
Follow Dr. Baron-Cohen’s work!
Follow Dr. Baron-Cohen’s work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/3ksx4nf
Autism Research Center: http://bit.ly/3GV1WEx
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3GXu4qv
Books on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3kzKSfN
The Pattern Seekers: https://bit.ly/3kzWob6
Twitter handle: @sbaroncohen