School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009 Perth, WA Australia.
Neurocognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009 Perth, WA Australia.
J Neurodev Disord. 2015;7(1):14. doi: 10.1186/s11689-015-9109-6. Epub 2015 Apr 15.
In a recent study, Bejerot et al. observed that several physical features (including faces) of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were more androgynous than those of their typically developed counterparts, suggesting that ASD may be understood as a 'gender defiant' disorder. These findings are difficult to reconcile with the hypermasculinisation account, which proposes that ASD may be an exaggerated form of cognitive and biological masculinity. The current study extended these data by first identifying six facial features that best distinguished males and females from the general population and then examining these features in typically developing groups selected for high and low levels of autistic-like traits.
In study 1, three-dimensional (3D) facial images were collected from 208 young adult males and females recruited from the general population. Twenty-three facial distances were measured from these images and a gender classification and scoring algorithm was employed to identify a set of six facial features that most effectively distinguished male from female faces. In study 2, measurements of these six features were compared for groups of young adults selected for high (n = 46) or low (n = 66) levels of autistic-like traits.
For each sex, four of the six sexually dimorphic facial distances significantly differentiated participants with high levels of autistic-like traits from those with low trait levels. All four features were less masculinised for high-trait males compared to low-trait males. Three of four features were less feminised for high-trait females compared to low-trait females. One feature was, however, not consistent with the general pattern of findings and was more feminised among females who reported more autistic-like traits. Based on the four significantly different facial distances for each sex, discriminant function analysis correctly classified 89.7% of the males and 88.9% of the females into their respective high- and low-trait groups.
The current data provide support for Bejerot et al.'s androgyny account since males and females with high levels of autistic-like traits generally showed less sex-typical facial features than individuals with low levels of autistic-like traits.
在最近的一项研究中，Bejerot 等人观察到，患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的个体的一些身体特征（包括面部）比其典型发育的个体更具有两性特征，这表明 ASD 可能被理解为一种“性别反抗”障碍。这些发现与过度男性化理论难以协调，该理论提出 ASD 可能是认知和生物学男性化的一种夸张形式。本研究通过首先确定六个最能区分一般人群中男性和女性的面部特征，然后检查在选择具有高和低自闭症样特征的典型发育群体中这些特征，扩展了这些数据。
在研究 1 中，从一般人群中招募了 208 名年轻成年男性和女性，收集了他们的三维（3D）面部图像。从这些图像中测量了 23 个面部距离，并使用性别分类和评分算法确定了一组六个最有效地区分男性和女性面部的面部特征。在研究 2 中，比较了选择具有高（n=46）或低（n=66）自闭症样特征水平的年轻成年人组的这六个特征的测量值。
对于每个性别，六个性别二态性面部距离中的四个显著区分了具有高自闭症样特征的参与者与具有低特征水平的参与者。与低特质男性相比，高特质男性的所有四个特征都不太男性化。与低特质女性相比，高特质女性的三个特征都不太女性化。然而，一个特征与一般发现模式不一致，并且在报告更多自闭症样特征的女性中更加女性化。基于每个性别四个显著不同的面部距离，判别函数分析正确地将 89.7%的男性和 88.9%的女性分类为各自的高特质和低特质群体。
目前的数据支持 Bejerot 等人的两性特征理论，因为具有高自闭症样特征的男性和女性通常比具有低自闭症样特征的个体表现出较少的性别典型面部特征。
