Is Spock out of his Vulcan mind or just autistic?

The character of Mr Spock has intrigued and entertained audiences since his first appearance in Star Trek in the 1960s. A new article in the British Journal of Psychiatry (BJPsych) now suggests that he shares many characteristics with those who suffer from autism. His human-Vulcan heritage offers a split perspective, with his Vulcan half demanding logic at all costs, while he must simultaneously battle the human emotion bubbling under the surface. Writing in BJPsych, Geoff Lawrence-Smith praises the "perceptive social commentary" that has informed the Star Trek series since its inception, and notes the Vulcan transition from a "barbarous and…