This research aimed to validate a simplified Chinese version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ; 60 items) for use with Mainland Chinese people. The original English version of the EQ was translated into simplified Chinese. Through an online survey, 588 Mainland Chinese participants completed the EQ and 3 other questionnaires: the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)...

At the present time there are a large number of adults who have suspected Asperger syndrome (AS). In this paper we describe a new instrument, the Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA), developed in our clinic for adults with AS. The need for a new instrument relevant to the diagnosis of AS in adulthood arises because existing instruments are designed for use with children. Properties of the AAA inclu...

Previous studies have indicated that empathic traits, such as perspective taking, are associated with the levels of serotonin in the brain and with autism spectrum conditions. Inspired by the finding that the serotonin receptor 2A gene (HTR2A) modulates the availability of serotonin, this study investigated to what extent HTR2A modulates individuals' perspective taking ability and autistic-like...

UNLABELLED There have been concerns that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are over-represented but not recognised in prison populations. A screening tool for ASDs in prisons has therefore been developed. AIMS We aimed to evaluate this tool in Scottish prisoners by comparing scores with standard measures of autistic traits (Autism Quotient (AQ)), neurodevelopmental history (As...

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to explore associations between autistic traits and self-reported clinical symptoms in a population with anorexia nervosa (AN). Experimental and self-report evidence reveals similarities between AN and autism spectrum condition (ASC) populations in socio-emotional and cognitive domains; this includes difficulties with empathy, set-shifting and global...

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders are claimed to show a local cognitive bias, termed "weak central coherence", which manifests in a reduced influence of contextual information on linguistic processing. Here, we investigated whether this bias might also be demonstrated by individuals who exhibit sub-clinical levels of autistic traits, as has been found for other aspects of autistic cogn...

Abstract Background Although approximately 23% of anorexia nervosa (AN) patients have concomitant autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is clinically difficult to determine ASD coexistence in with eating disorders. Restrictive AN more common younger and self-induced vomiting usually appears during adolescence/young adulthood, order prevent gaining weight caused by overeating. However, some are tol...

Since communication is always social, it might be more fruitful to think of autism and Asperger’s Syndrome as sharing features in two broad areas: social-communication and narrow interests/repetitive actions. As for distinguishing features, a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome requires that the child spoke on time and has average IQ or above. Today the notion of an autistic spectrum is no longer ...

In 1997 in this Journal we published the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test, as a measure of adult "mentalising". Whilst that test succeeded in discriminating a group of adults with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) from controls, it suffered from several psychometric problems. In this paper these limitations are rectified by revising the test. The Revised Eyes Test was a...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to compare the broader autism phenotype in Iranian parents of children with autism spectrum disorders and parents of typically developing children. METHOD Parents of children with ASD and parents of typically developing children were asked to complete the Persian version of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). In the ASD group, families included 204 pa...