Monozygotic Twins with Asperger Syndrome:
Differences in Behaviour Reflect Variations in Brain Structure and Function

Matthew K Belmonte and Ruth A Carper

Brain and Cognition 61(1):110-121 (June 2006).

ABSTRACT
A pair of monozygotic twins discordant for symptoms of Asperger syndrome was evaluated at the age of 13.45 years using psychometric, morphometric, behavioural and functional imaging methods. The lower-functioning twin had a smaller brain overall, a smaller right cerebellum, and a disproportionately large left frontal lobe, and manifested almost no differential activation between distractors of high and low congruence with target visual stimuli. The higher-functioning twin manifested a typically autistic pattern of anterior deactivation and posterior hyperactivation in response to incongruent distractors, overlaid with a typically normal pattern of activation of superior frontal cortex. The morphometric results are consistent with known correlations between brain structure and behaviour in autism, and the physiological results suggest correspondences between structure and function.

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CITED IN PUBLICATIONS BY OTHERS:

  1. Baron-Cohen S, Klin A. What's so special about Asperger syndrome? Brain and Cognition 61(1):1-4 (June 2006).
  2. Rathus SA. Childhood and Adolescence: Voyages in Development. Belmont, California: Wadsworth (3 December 2007, c2008).
  3. Goos LM, Ragsdale G. Genomic imprinting and human psychology: cognition, behavior and pathology. In: Jon F Wilkins (ed.), Genomic Imprinting (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 626), pp 71-88. Berlin: Springer (31 January 2008).
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  6. Boucher J. The Autistic Spectrum: Characteristics, Causes, and Practical Issues. London: SAGE Publications (26 November 2008, c2009).

CITED IN MY OTHER PUBLICATIONS:

  1. Baron-Cohen S, Golan O, Chakrabarti B, Belmonte MK. Social cognition and autism spectrum conditions. In: Social Cognition and Developmental Psychopathology (C Sharp, P Fonagy, I Goodyer, eds.), pp 29-56. Oxford: Oxford University Press (4 September 2008).
  2. Belmonte MK, Gomot M, Baron-Cohen S. Visual attention in autism families: ‘unaffected’ sibs share atypical frontal activation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51(3):259-276 (March 2010).