AUTHOR=Gonzalez-Gadea Maria Luz , Tripicchio Paula , Rattazzi Alexia , Baez Sandra , Marino Julian , Roca Maria , Manes Facundo , Ibanez Agustin TITLE=Inter-individual cognitive variability in children with Asperger's syndrome JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience VOLUME=8 YEAR=2014 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00575 DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2014.00575 ISSN=1662-5161 ABSTRACT=

Multiple studies have tried to establish the distinctive profile of individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS). However, recent reports suggest that adults with AS feature heterogeneous cognitive profiles. The present study explores inter-individual variability in children with AS through group comparison and multiple case series analysis. All participants completed an extended battery including measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, executive functions, theory of mind, and classical neuropsychological tests. Significant group differences were found in theory of mind and other domains related to global information processing. However, the AS group showed high inter-individual variability (both sub- and supra-normal performance) on most cognitive tasks. Furthermore, high fluid intelligence correlated with less general cognitive impairment, high cognitive flexibility, and speed of motor processing. In light of these findings, we propose that children with AS are characterized by a distinct, uneven pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses.