How math skills and a love of patterns are linked to autism

[O]ur brain uses two modules to try to make sense of the world. One systemizes: it looks for patterns and order and uses them to explain and predict the world. The second system is empathetic: it tries to predict and understand the world by walking in its shoes. One characteristic of autism spectrum disorder is the desire for order and patterns.

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If the two are really linked, it should also be true in the general population. That’s what Paolo Bressan wanted to test: does being a systemizer make you a better mathematician?

Bressan grabbed a bunch of students studying psychology, engineering, biology, and a couple of a humanities students.

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He subjected them to a battery of tests. A math ability test, a non-math intelligence test, and a test that quantified how much each person liked to systemize information. Out came a set of startling and not-so-startling correlations. First, math and systemization were strongly correlated with study choice: engineers and physicists love to systemize, while psychology students do not. The math scores followed the same trend.

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The study therefore supports the original hypothesis: we all love systemization to a different degree. And that love of systemization shines through when it comes to solving math problems.

Read full, original post: Love of patterns, order may explain mad math skills—and autism link