Autism is more prevalent in boys than girls, study confirms

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A new study published in the journal Molecular Autism confirms that autism differs in boys and in girls, and that more boys are being diagnosed, most probably due to the differences in behaviors between the genders, NYC Today reports.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine, who examined 128 girls and 618 boys, all with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The researchers's goal was to determine specific signs of autism and how they show significant gender differences, and how the brain differs in girls and boys.

According to Youth Health Magazine, the children were aged 7 to 13, all with the same average IQ level. Results showed that both girls and boys obtained similar scores for social behavior and communication ability, however, the scores of the girls were closer to the normal behavior score on a standard measurement of repetitive and restricted behaviors.

Moreover, the researchers also studied structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scans of 25 boys and 25 girls with autism, versus 19 boys and 19 girls who are normally developing. The researchers found that there were gender-based differences in the brain, and that the girls with ASD had less-severe repetitive and restricted behaviors.

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

"Our findings indicate that the brains of girls with autism are structured differently from those of boys with autism, and that some of these differences are linked to sex differences in behavioral impairments that characterize autism," he added. 

"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."

Mayra Mendez from Providence Saint John's Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica, California, told Newsmax: "Treatment for girls may best focus on building behavior skills that support social interactions and social communication as most important to remediate autism spectrum disorder behaviors in girls."

Dr. Glen Elliott, chief psychiatrist and medical director of Children's Health Council in Palo Alto, California, and was not involved in the study, also commented, "This is basic research that tells us something, hopefully, about brain function in individuals with autism, but it does not speak to treatment. Still, it is a wonderful example of the types of research that finally are enabling researchers to delve more deeply into what exactly is different about the brain of an autistic individual."