Do patients with high-functioning autism have similar social cognitive deficits as patients with a chronic cause of schizophrenia?

Objective: There is substantial evidence that both patients with schizophrenia and patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have impaired social cognition including theory of mind (ToM) deficits. However, it remains unclear if both verbal (explicit) and non-verbal (implicit) ToM as well as social perception are similarly affected in both disorders.

Methods: Twenty-one patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 11 patients diagnosed with ASD were matched one-to-one to healthy controls based on gender, age, and educational level.