Help us learn more about neurodiversity among women and nonbinary individuals.

People assigned female at birth are much less likely to receive a diagnosis of autism than people assigned male. A portion of this discrepancy is likely related to a limited understanding of how autistic traits tend to be expressed in those designated female.

We are doing this study to learn more about the brain biology and well-being of those designated female at birth, and how these characteristics might relate to high or low levels of autistic traits.

Autistic traits are differences in social style and preferences that can be measured in anyone.

• 18 years of age or older

• Assigned female at birth

• Currently identify as female or nonbinary

The study involves an MRI brain scan, some short tests, and a few questionnaires. We will ask you to answer some questions about your experiences of your gender. You will take a brief (15 minute) cognitive test and complete some surveys asking about your social behavior and preferences. We will also ask you some questions about your quality of life and recent levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.

You would first communicate with a member of our research team to give you more details about the study and make sure you qualify for an MRI scan. This would take about 15 minutes.

The study involves one visit to our MRI facility at George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus, and would take about 2.5 hours.

Participants receive $75.