People with similar autistic traits show greater mutual attraction and neural synchrony

New research has revealed that people with similar levels of autistic traits are more attracted to each other, and their brains synchronize in unique ways during passive and active communication. The findings of the novel study in Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, offer new insights into the Double Empathy Problem and the neural mechanisms of social interaction, suggesting that tailoring environments could reduce social fatigue and increase meaningful connection for individuals with autism.

This study expands on the Double Empathy Problem, which reframes autism's social challenges as differences between individuals in communication rather than pointing only to a deficit in empathy on the part of the autistic person. In addition, the Dialectical Misattunement Hypothesis (DMH) suggests that interaction between people with similar autistic traits will be smoother and reflected in neural synchronization.

"By situating autism research within the Double Empathy and DMH frameworks, we move beyond deficit language and show that individuals with higher autistic traits may engage different—not simply weaker—neural coordination strategies during real communication. With increasing emphasis on inclusion and neurodiversity, identifying conditions under which social connection flourishes is timely and policy relevant," explains lead investigator Xuejun Bai, PhD, Faculty of Psychology, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, and Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.

Co-lead investigator Peng Zhang, PhD, Faculty of Psychology, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, and Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Normal University, adds, "Our team has a long-standing interest in the neural bases of communication challenges in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in individuals with varying levels of autistic traits. We believed that studying naturalistic, group-based communication—rather than only structured or one-to-one laboratory tasks—could reveal how neurological alignment (or misalignment) emerges in real conversations. Our motivation is practical and humanistic: We want every-day social exchanges to become easier and more rewarding for autistic people and those who interact with them—not merely to raise scores on communication 'skills' tests."

This study is one of the first to combine mixed trait, four-person group discussions (30 groups; 20 female and 10 male), each containing two individuals high in autistic traits and two low in autistic traits. Using the Social Relations Model, researchers measured to what extent participants liked and were attracted to each group member and recorded cortical activity with functional near‑infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during two phases: (1) passive story listening and (2) the active, turn‑taking discussion.

Key findings include:

• Individuals with similar levels of autistic traits reported feeling more interpersonally attracted to one another when their opinions aligned during a group discussion.
• Brain-to-brain analyses showed that neural synchronization depends on both trait similarity and social context.
• Low autistic trait pairs synchronized more during passive listening, whereas in active discussion low-trait and high-trait pairs engaged different brain networks.

John Krystal, MD, Editor of Biological Psychiatry, comments, "This research shifts our approach to (mis)communication in individuals with ASD. The finding that people who are neurally 'in sync' with each other find social connection easier, suggests a novel approach for building social connection among people with ASD."

Our data suggest that successful communication depends on the match between partners—both in trait profile and in shared conversational ground—not solely on individual skill. Recognizing that high autistic trait individuals can achieve effective interaction when contexts support their strengths helps reorient interventions toward mutual adaptation. Structuring discussions, clarifying turn taking, and aligning expectations may promote neural and social attunement. Ultimately, tailoring environments—not just training individuals—could reduce social fatigue and increase meaningful connection for autistic people."

Dr.Xuejun Bai, PhD, Faculty of Psychology, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, and Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China