Study Linking Autism to ‘Male Brain’ Retracted, Replaced

In an editorial simultaneously published with the article, Larry Cahill, PhD, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, wrote that the study “represents an important new step” in recognizing sex influences as fundamental to understanding both normal and abnormal brain function. The new paper, however, concludes that the findings “imply that the male neuroanatomical phenotype does not carry a higher intrinsic risk for ASD than the female neurophenotype and provide important novel insights into the neurobiological mechanisms mediating sex differences in ASD prevalence.” Emily Willingham, PhD, critiqued the article at the time it was published, writing that the findings “do not, however, live up to the breathless headlines or to claims of one of its authors, Simon Baron-Cohen, who excitedly tweeted that ‘79.6% of women with autism have a male brain, and women with a male brain are 3 times more likely to have autism.’ “

Source: www.medscape.com