Autism and Brain Symmetry

A boy holding a heart made out of puzzle pieces. The puzzle covers his face. The colors are blue, yellow, red, and green for autism awareness.

Neurotypical brains? They tend to have a little left-right shimmy going on, especially when it comes to talking (see our last blog!)

But hold onto your hats! Emerging research reveals that folks on the autism spectrum might be rocking some seriously symmetrical brain vibes.

Before we dive into autism and brain symmetry, let’s review what (in a general sense) our brain hemispheres are responsible for:

Right Brain:

• Attention

• Creativity

• Facial Recognition

• Nonverbal Cues

• Imagination

• Intuition

• Planning/Organization

• Processing emotions

• Spatial Attention

• Understanding/decoding language

• Understanding time
  

Left Brain:

• Calculation

• Logic

• Mathematics and numeracy

• Reasoning

• Problem-solving

• Sequencing

• Speech production

• Writing

You can see by looking at the list that a lot of these skills require the left and right sides of our brain to cooperate in order to accomplish complex tasks. Speech—for instance—is a left-brain skill that relies on the right brain to process nonverbal cues and facial expressions.

As we explored in our last blog, modern research has largely debunked the old myth of people generally being more left- or right-brain dominant. Most tasks, while leaning more on one hemisphere or the other, employ both sides of the brain using the corpus callosum to communicate. In the last decade, researchers have observed no meaningful differences in structure or connection between the brains of mathematicians and artists.

There may, however, be something slightly more symmetrical about neurodivergent brains.

Autism and Brain Symmetry

Structural differences in autistic vs neurotypical brains are subtle, and that’s putting it mildly. Because autism is a spectrum disorder with comorbid conditions such as epilepsy, intellectual disability, and ADHD, scientists can’t just look at a brain scan and diagnose someone with autism (not yet at least!)

However, emerging research has found that autistic peoples’ brains show more symmetry in certain brain regions, specifically those associated with language. Interestingly, the same study found more asymmetry in other regions. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough research on the topic yet, so hopefully we’ll see more studies on brain symmetry and autism in the future.

1 in 36

While brain structure and symmetry are not reliable markers for autism diagnosis, these findings have promising implications for future treatments and therapies. Scientists are also examining the hemispheric symmetry of the ADHD brain. Again, because ADHD is a spectrum disorder, these hemispheric differences seem to vary depending on the individual, but a broader general understanding of hemispheric brain function in neurodivergent individuals may lead to even more exciting research and treatment options in the future.

In Conclusion…

Improved awareness and diagnostic tools have led to an increase in autism diagnoses. Up from a diagnosis rate of 4 in 10,000 in the 1970s, according to the CDC 1 in 36 US children is affected by autism in 2025. That said, understanding the subtle differences in how our brains work can help us develop better treatments. It can also help all of us develop empathy and understanding for individuals who walk through the world in a different way.