First thing I thought your friend might be referring to was the Extreme Male Brain Theory of Autism, by Simon Baron-Cohen (published in Trends In Cognitive Sciences, Vol 6. No. 6 (2002), 248-254)
"The key mental domains in which sex differences have traditionally been studied are verbal and spatial abilities. In this article I suggest that two neglected dimensions for understanding human sex differences are ‘empathising’ and ‘systemising’. The male brain is a defined psychometrically as those individuals in whom systemising is significantly better than empathising, and the female brain is defined as the opposite cognitive profile. Using these definitions, autism can be considered as an extreme of the normal male profile. There is increasing psychological evidence for the extreme male brain theory of autism."
(pdf of full-article for download through Google Scholar)
Article Outline
The main brain types: The female brain: empathising
Sharing and turn-taking, Rough and tumble play or ‘rough housing’, Responding empathically to the distress of other people, Using a ‘theory of mind’, Sensitivity to facial expressions, Questionnaires measuring empathy, Values in relationships, Disorders of empathy, Aggression, Murder, Establishing a ‘dominance hierarchy’, Language style, Talk about emotions, Parenting style, Face preference and eye contact
The male brain: systemising
Toy preferences, Adult occupational choices, Maths, physics, and engineering, Constructional abilities, The Water-Level task, The Rod and Frame test, Good attention to relevant detail, The Mental Rotation test, Map reading, Motoric systems, Organisable systems, The Systemising Quotient, Mechanics
Autism: an extreme form of the male brain
Evidence for the extreme male brain theory, Impaired empathising, Mindreading, The Empathy Quotient (EQ), The ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test, The Complex Facial Expressions test, Eye contact, Language development, Pragmatics, The Faux Pas test, The Friendship Questionnaire (FQ), Superior systemising, Islets of ability, Attention to detail, Preference for rule-based, structured, factual information, Tests of intuitive physics, Toy preference, Collecting, Obsessions with closed systems, The Systemising Quotient
Biological and familial evidence
The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Sexually dimorphic somatic markers, Early puberty, Familiality of talent, A key symptom explained, Central coherence versus systemising
I do wonder how it fits with MBTI. I know INTJs cop the Autism or Asperger's label frequently. As a female INTJ, I identify more with the 'male brain' than 'female' brain for sure. But I don't believe I'm Autistic or have Asperger's.
Such an interesting question, azerty!