Our lab explores the relationship between autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders through the lens of the diametric model, a framework Prof. Abu-Akel has helped to pioneer. The lab focuses particularly on the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying perception, attention, and social cognition and functioning. By integrating behavioral, neuroimaging, and genetic methodologies across both clinical and neurotypical populations, the lab aims to elucidate how these conditions may lie at opposite ends of a continuum of cognitive and social processing. This integrative approach highlights the value of examining autism and schizophrenia in tandem, offering insights that may be obscured when these conditions are studied in isolation. A complementary line of research in our lab delves into the foundations of social cognition, with a particular emphasis on Theory of Mind.

• Understanding the shared and distinct mechanisms underlying autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

• Characterizing the intersection of autism and schizophrenia and its impact on perception, attention and social cognition.

• Identifying the neuroanatomical correlates of attention and social cognition in the co-occurrence of autism and schizophrenia. 

• Investigating the genetic and environmental contributions to the development of autism and schizophrenia.