The Relationship Between Systemising and Mental Rotationand the Implications for the Extreme Male Brain Theoryof Autism

摘要

Within the Extreme Male Brain theory, AutismSpectrum Disorder is characterised as a deficit in empath-ising in conjunction with preserved or enhanced syste-mising. A male advantage in systemising is argued tounderpin the traditional male advantage in mental rotationtasks. Mental rotation tasks can be separated into rotationaland non-rotational components, and circulating testoster-one has been found to consistently relate to the lattercomponent. Systemising was found to correlate withmental rotation, specifically the non-rotational compo-nent(s) of the mental rotation task but not the rotationalcomponent of the task. Systemising also correlated with aproxy for circulating testosterone but not a proxy for pre-natal testosterone. A sex difference was identified insystemising and the non-rotational aspect of the mentalrotation task.