Autistic empathy toward autistic others

"The results demonstrated that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was significantly activated in individuals with ASD in response to autistic characters and in typically developing (TD) individuals in response to non-autistic characters. Although the frontal–posterior network between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus participated in the processing of non-autistic characters in TD individuals, an alternative network was involved when individuals with ASD processed autistic characters. This suggests an atypical form of empathy in individuals with ASD toward others with ASD...

Individuals with ASD do not lack empathy toward others who are similar to themselves, just as TD individuals respond selectively to others who are similar than to those who are dissimilar. In contrast, the neural mechanisms underlying the responses of those with ASD to others differ from those underlying this process in TD individuals. Individuals with ASD do not employ the frontal–posterior network during cognitions pertaining to the behavior of other ASD individuals."

See:  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/842384_1?nlid=80345_3001

Hidetsugu Komeda, Hirotaka Kosaka, Daisuke N. Saito, Yoko Mano, Minyoung Jung, Takeshi Fujii, Hisakazu T. Yanaka, Toshio Munesue, Makoto Ishitobi, Makoto Sato, Hidehiko Okazawa. Autistic Empathy Toward Autistic Others. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015;10(2):145-152.