Pioneer of ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism now says phrase unhelpful | Autism
The scientist, who pioneered the “extreme male brain” theory of autism, said he regretted characterizing the condition in this way because this statement led to misunderstandings.
Prof Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory that autistic people have a strong tendency to systematize rather than empathize has been hugely influential in shaping popular perceptions of autism over the past two decades. But Baron-Cohen said she now sees the “extreme male brain” label as unhelpful, even though the underlying science has stood the test of time.
“Some of these terms are very easily misunderstood, and so I’m sorry about that,” he said. “It can lead to simple headlines like ‘People with autism lack empathy,’ which is not true.”
He added: “I don’t think some of the language, like male brain and female brain, is useful today.”
Speaking to the Guardian before the announcement that US philanthropist Lisa Yang will donate £26 million ($34.5 million) to the University of Cambridge, Baron-Cohen said the fund will be used for research carried out in line with the priorities of the autistic community.
This is one of the largest donations ever made to a UK university for autism research and will be used to establish the K Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research in Cambridge, as well as a clinical autism center at the future Cambridge children’s hospital, which Baron-Cohen will oversee.
The research center is expected to focus on practical solutions to improve life expectancy and health outcomes of autistic people, early diagnosis and quality of life. According to Baron-Cohen, the physical health of autistic people in particular is an overlooked area.
“While people think autism is about the mind and brain, the fact that autistic people tend to die younger is neglected,” he said.
Latest findings Research by his team, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that autistic people have a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, based on data from 141,672 people, found that women with autism had a 71% higher risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious heart diseases, even after taking into account known risk factors such as blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
“If you had asked me 20 years ago to look at autism and cardiovascular disease, it wouldn’t have been on our radar, but it came from the autism community,” Baron-Cohen said.
Reasons for the association may include difficulty accessing NHS services, lifestyle or genetic factors. “This suggests that if your patient is autistic, you need to look for these specific things as well,” Baron-Cohen said. “It could have direct benefits.”
The center is also expected to examine autistic women’s physical health experiences, including difficulties with childbirth and menstruation, which some previous findings suggest may be more common.
“This may be related to sensory hypersensitivity, but it may also be directly hormonal,” Baron-Cohen said. “The dialogue with the autism community is shifting about what phenomena or issues we are shedding light on that need attention and what are being neglected.”
Baron-Cohen has previously sparked controversy in the autism community based on her “extreme male brain” theory, which has been criticized for framing autism as a lack of empathy and reinforcing gender stereotypes.
In fact, he said his own research shows that autistic people tend to differ in cognitive empathy (interpreting facial expressions and language) but not emotional empathy (the visceral response to the emotions of others). “When they know someone is upset, it upsets them and they want to do something about it,” he said. “There’s sort of a myth that autistic people lack empathy.”
More recently, Baron-Cohen’s team faced backlash over a plan to sequence the genomes of 10,000 autistic people, which ultimately resulted in the project’s cancellation. After a two-year consultation with the autistic community. He said there was now much greater emphasis on consultation at a sufficiently early stage for research priorities to be shaped or enriched by the input of autistic people.
“I can’t generalize but a lot of autistic people think differently; they’re not just governed by fashion or tradition, they think for themselves from first principles and can bring a very new perspective to something,” he said.
The Cambridge donation comes against a backdrop of a steady increase in autism diagnoses. almost there 800% increase Number of cases of children presenting to mental health services with possible autism in the UK between 1998 and 2018 and in 2024-2025 increased by almost 50% in a single year.
Some argue that the crime is “overdiagnosis.” But Baron-Cohen rejected the idea that people would seek a diagnosis “in the ordinary way.” His team is running a pilot study to see whether GPs can diagnose autism as accurately as specialist referral centres, which he says can “shorten waiting lists overnight”.
