© AFPAngry ... Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has rejected a report that suggested he has Asperger’s Syndrome.
"That is stupidity not worthy of comment," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Gazeta.ru news website.
His comments came after USA Today reported that a 2008 study carried out by an internal Pentagon think tank, the Office of Net Assessment, suggested that Mr Putin has Asperger's syndrome, giving him a need to exert "extreme control" on his surroundings and is uncomfortable with social interaction.
The Pentagon played down the study, saying it apparently never made its way to the desk of the defence secretary or other top decision makers.
Experts studying his movements and facial expressions in video footage theorised that Mr Putin's neurological development was disrupted in infancy, giving him a sense of physical imbalance and a discomfort with social interaction.
Comment: Physical imbalance?
© Alexey Druzhinin / AFP/Getty Images
"This profound behavioural challenge has been identified by leading neuroscientists as Asperger's syndrome, an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions," wrote the study's author, Brenda Connors, a senior fellow at the US Naval War College.
"During crisis, to stabilise himself and his perceptions of any evolving context he reverts to imposing extreme control," wrote Ms Connors, who has analysed the body language of other world leaders.
Mr Putin's condition also can prompt him to "withdraw from social stimulation as he did at the time of the Kursk nuclear submarine incident" in 2000, when a Russian sub sank in the Barents Sea, the study claimed.
Comment: Nope, couldn't have been something like: he had important business to attend to!
The theory about Mr Putin's condition could not be definitively confirmed without a brain scan, the report said. But experts cited the Russian president's body movements and "microexpressions" as indicators of Asperger's.
The Pentagon study claimed Mr Putin's unrelenting stare reflected a neurological abnormality and an inability to pick up on social cues.
His condition meant that Mr Putin would display a "hypersensitivity" and "a strong reliance on the fight, flight and freeze responses" instead of a more nuanced social behaviour, it said.
Comment: Check out this total lack of nuance:
© APVladimir Putin puts a shawl on Peng Liyuan as they arrive to watch a fireworks show at the opening ceremony of the APEC summit. Putin is now a 'role model' and 'father figure' to many young Russians
Mr Putin is uncomfortable presenting his ideas to "large audiences" and his neurological "challenge" meant that he "simply lacks trust in human interactions", it said.
Comment: So uncomfortable!
''The “Putin has Asperger’s” story highlights the stupidity of psychological diagnosis from a distance'' by Pete Etchells