Selected Publications

Ramati, R., Yeshurun, Y. & Abu-Akel, A. (2026). Examining the diametric model of autistic and psychotic traits through temporal perception. Scientific Reports. 

Hadad, BS., Leon, I., Hartston, M., Freud, E., Abu-Akel, A. (2026). Mapping sensory sensitivity in autism. Molecular Autism.  

Choudhary, A., Rosh, I., Hussein, Y., Netser, S., Shemen, A., Suliman, T., Rike, W.A., Simchi, L., Shklyar, B.,  Abu-Akel, A., Zinger, A., Offen, D., Wagner, S., Stern, S. (2026). Extracellular Vesicles from Stem Cells Rescue Cellular Phenotypes and Behavioral Deficits in SHANK3-Associated ASD Neuronal and Mouse Models. Cell Death & Disease. 

Saade, M., Rike, W. A., Sharma, O., Abu-Akel, A., & Stern, S. (2025). Prader-Willi syndrome: Genetics, clinical symptoms, and model systems. Genomic Psychiatry.

Romanovsky, E., Choudhary, A., Peles, D., Abu-Akel, A., & Stern, S. (2025). Uncovering convergence and divergence between autism and schizophrenia using genomic tools and patients’ neurons. Molecular Psychiatry.

Nenadić, I., Meller, T., Evermann, U., Pfarr, J. K., Federspiel, A., Walther, S., ... & Abu-Akel, A. (2024).  Modelling the overlap and divergence of autistic and schizotypal traits on hippocampal subfield volumes and regional cerebral blood flow. Molecular Psychiatry.

Balsa, L. B., Abu-Akel, A., & Mevorach, C. (2023). Dynamic functional connectivity in the right temporoparietal junction captures variations in autistic trait expression. Autism Research. 

Parvaiz, R., Vindbjerg, E., Crespi, B., Happe, F., Schalbroeck, R., Al-Sayegh, Z., ... & Abu-Akel, A. (2023). Protocol for the development and testing of the schiZotypy Autism Questionnaire (ZAQ) in adults: a new screening tool to discriminate autism spectrum disorder from schizotypal disorder. BMC psychiatry. 

Greenberg, D. M., Warrier, V., Abu-Akel, A., Allison, C., Gajos, K. Z., Reinecke, K., ... & Baron-Cohen, S. (2023). Sex and age differences in “theory of mind” across 57 countries using the English version of the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Abu-Akel, A., Wood, S. J., Upthegrove, R., Chisholm, K., Lin, A., Hansen, P. C., ... & Montag, C. (2022). Psychosocial functioning in the balance between autism and psychosis: evidence from three populations. Molecular Psychiatry. 

Nenadić, I., Meller, T., Evermann, U., Schmitt, S., Pfarr, J. K., Abu-Akel, A., & Grezellschak, S. (2021). Subclinical schizotypal vs. autistic traits show overlapping and diametrically opposed facets in a non-clinical population. Schizophrenia research. 

Abu-Akel, A. M., Apperly, I. A., Wood, S. J., & Hansen, P. C. (2020). Re-imaging the intentional stance. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 

Abu-Akel, A., Allison, C., Baron-Cohen, S., & Heinke, D. (2019). The distribution of autistic traits across the autism spectrum: evidence for discontinuous dimensional subpopulations underlying the autism continuum. Molecular autism. 

Vaskinn, A., & Abu-Akel, A. (2019). The interactive effect of autism and psychosis severity on theory of mind and functioning in schizophrenia. Neuropsychology. 

Ford, T. C., Abu-Akel, A., & Crewther, D. P. (2019). The association of excitation and inhibition signaling with the relative symptom expression of autism and psychosis-proneness: Implications for psychopharmacology. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 

Abu-Akel, A., Apperly, I. A., Wood, S. J., Hansen, P. C., & Mevorach, C. (2017). Autism tendencies and psychosis proneness interactively modulate saliency cost. Schizophrenia bulletin. 

Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., & Abu-Akel, A. (2016). The social salience hypothesis of oxytocin. Biological psychiatry.

Abu-Akel, A. M., Wood, S. J., Hansen, P. C., & Apperly, I. A. (2015). Perspective-taking abilities in the balance between autism tendencies and psychosis proneness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Chisholm, K., Lin, A., Abu-Akel, A., & Wood, S. J. (2015). The association between autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A review of eight alternate models of co-occurrence. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

Abu-Akel, A., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. (2011). Neuroanatomical and neurochemical bases of theory of mind. Neuropsychologia.

Abu-Akel, A., & Bailey, A. L. (2001). Indexical and symbolic referencing: what role do they play in children's success on theory of mind tasks?. Cognition.

Abu-Akel, A., & Bailey, A. L. (2000). The possibility of different forms of theory of mind impairment in psychiatric and developmental disorders. Psychological medicine.

Abu-Akel, A. (1999). Impaired theory of mind in schizophrenia. Pragmatics & cognition.