Article on female autism and social brain

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Came across this and thought it was very interesting. Author is Apoorva Mandavilli and the article is called "the lost girls" link to article here: https://spectrumnews.org/features/deep- ... ost-girls/

I hope it is ok to share. This bit below was particularly fascinating:

"The social brain is an interconnected set of brain regions, including the face processing fusiform gyrus; the amygdala, an emotion hub; and the superior temporal sulcus, which tracks other people’s attention and movements. Imaging studies have reported that the social brain is underactive in people with autism, but Pelphrey’s lab has found that if typical girls have the most active social brains and boys with autism the least active, typical boys would tie with girls who have autism somewhere in the middle. “That kind of blew us away,” he says.

Particularly interesting is the unpublished observation that in girls with autism, the social brain seems to communicate with the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that normally engages in reason and planning, and is known to burn through energy. It may be that women with autism keep their social brain engaged, but mediate it through the prefrontal cortex — in a sense, intellectualizing social interactions that would be intuitive for other women.

“That suggests compensation,” Pelphrey says. It also jibes with women like Maya saying they have learned the rules of social interactions, but find it draining to act on them all day. “It’s exhausting because it’s like you’re doing math all day,” Pelphrey says."

Wow, that's pretty accurate!

I am not diagnosed with autism but my daughter is most likely autistic and I recognise a lot of traits in myself... one thing I find interesting about this article is that I can communicate effectively with people about intellectual topics for aaaaages and be fine but if I have to chit chat or just socialise without a purpose I get the "immediate drain fatigue, hit a wall, kind of eye blackening sickness" on bad days it actually feels as if someone slammed me in the front of the head with a brick repeatedly!

I like alcohol (more specifically, whiskey and beer) and especially in combination with sitting in shady pubs and observing people. After two or three beers I tend to find myself in very interesting conversations, mostly with elderly men. It's a nice way for me to get some social interaction without the demands and responsibilities of a relationship. And I wouldn't be comfortable enough for that without the alcohol.
I don't like partying with people my own age. I used to go to parties in my teens, almost compulsively (I guess in the hunt for a connection of some sort), but realized soon enough that no matter how much I drink, I still don't find it enjoyable. And it's not worth it either because it's expensive and I get ridiculously bad hangovers.

That article is spot on. Social interaction is very exhausting for me too. I hate small talk. It drains my energy pretty fast.

Sorry guys. I wondered where my reply in the alcohol-thread went. I have no idea how it turned up here, and I can't edit or delete it. Just ignore that one.