کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
323956 540831 2006 11 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Fetal testosterone and empathy
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری بیوشیمی، ژنتیک و زیست شناسی مولکولی علوم غدد
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Fetal testosterone and empathy
چکیده انگلیسی

BackgroundIn animals, fetal testosterone (fT) plays a central role in organizing the brain and in later social behavior. In humans, exposure to atypical levels of prenatal androgens may result in masculine behavior and ability patterns. Normal inter-individual variation in fT levels has also been correlated with later sex-typed behavior.MethodsIn the current study, 38 children (24 male, 14 female), whose fT was analyzed in amniotic fluid, were followed up at age 4. They were asked to describe cartoons with 2 moving triangles whose interactions with each other suggested social relationships and psychological motivations.ResultsFemales used more mental and affective state terms to describe the cartoons than males. fT was not associated with the frequency of mental or affective state terms. Females also used more intentional propositions than males. fT was negatively correlated with the frequency of intentional propositions, taking sex differences into account. fT was also negatively correlated with the frequency of intentional propositions when males were examined separately. Males used more neutral propositions than females. fT was directly correlated with the frequency of neutral propositions, taking sex differences into account. This relationship was not seen when males and females were examined separately.ConclusionsThese findings implicate fT in human social development. The relevance of our findings to the ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism is also discussed.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Hormones and Behavior - Volume 49, Issue 3, March 2006, Pages 282–292
نویسندگان
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