Knickmeyer Rebecca C, Wheelwright Sally, Baron-Cohen Simon B
Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research Center, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, Cambridge, UK.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Jul;38(6):1028-35. doi: 10.1007/s10803-007-0475-0. Epub 2007 Nov 6.
We tested the hypothesis that prenatal masculinization of the brain by androgens increases risk of developing an autism spectrum condition (ASC). Sex-typical play was measured in n = 66 children diagnosed with an ASC and n = 55 typically developing age-matched controls. Consistent with the hypothesis, girls with autism did not show the female-typical play preferences, though this was only seen on non-pretence items. Boys with autism showed a preference for male play on non-pretence items, in keeping with their sex. Girls with autism engaged in more pretend play than boys with autism, suggesting that pretence is relatively more protected in females with autism. We conclude that play preference studies in ASC provide partial support for the fetal androgen theory.
雄激素导致的大脑产前男性化会增加患自闭症谱系障碍（ASC）的风险。对66名被诊断患有ASC的儿童和55名发育正常的年龄匹配对照组儿童进行了性别典型行为测试。与该假设一致，患有自闭症的女孩没有表现出女性典型的游戏偏好，不过这仅在非假装项目中观察到。患有自闭症的男孩在非假装项目上表现出对男性化游戏的偏好，这与他们的性别相符。患有自闭症的女孩比患有自闭症的男孩进行更多的假装游戏，这表明假装游戏在患有自闭症的女性中相对更受保护。我们得出结论，对ASC患者的游戏偏好研究为胎儿雄激素理论提供了部分支持。
