Autism May Signal Higher Intelligence In Some Affected Individuals

Researchers are continuously learning about autism, a behavioral disorder that's estimated to affect about 1 in 68 children in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and about 1 in 100 children in the United Kingdom.

A new study investigates higher levels of intelligence that are sometimes associated with the development of the problem. For this study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatriy, researchers found new evidence linking certain genetic factors associated with autism to a better cognitive ability in people who are not affected by the condition.

The findings are particularly interesting. Although an estimated 70 percent of individuals with autism suffer from some type of intellectual disability, some are also remarkably more intelligent than others without the health issue.

For the study, researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Queensland analyzed close to 10,000 people recruited from the general population of Scotland. All participants were tested for general cognitive ability and had their DNA analyzed.

The team discovered that even among people who had never developed autism, carrying genetic traits associated with the disorder, on average, was linked to scoring slightly better on cognitive tests.

Furthermore, researchers also found evidence in a link between autism-associated genes and intelligence that was carried out via the same tests on 921 adolescents who were part of the Brisbane Adolescent Twin Study.

"Our findings show that genetic variation which increases risk for autism is associated with better cognitive ability in non-autistic individuals," Dr Toni-Kim Clarke, of the University of Edinburgh's Division of Psychiatry, in a news release. "As we begin to understand how genetic variants associated with autism impact brain function, we may begin to further understand the nature of autistic intelligence."