Dr. Noah Sasson, an assistant professor in the School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, is the lead author of an article detailing the benefits of comparing autism and schizophrenia for revealing mechanisms of social cognitive impairment.
The article, published in the June print edition of the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, argues that direct comparison of social cognitive impairment can highlight shared and divergent mechanisms underlying pathways to social dysfunction. The process may provide significant clinical benefit by informing the development of tailored treatment efforts.
While autism and schizophrenia share a long history of diagnostic confusion because of their overlap in social abnormalities, Dr. Sasson writes that “the goal of direct comparisons is not to conflate once again, but rather to reveal distinctions that illuminate disorder-specific mechanisms and pathways that contribute to social cognitive impairment.”
Dr. Sasson is currently conducting additional studies at the Callier Center that examine social cognition in adults with autism and adults with schizophrenia.
Article: “The benefit of directly comparing autism and schizophrenia for revealing mechanisms of social cognitive impairment”
