Having a Male Co-Twin Masculinizes Mental Rotation Performance in Females

Vuoksimaa, Eero; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kremen, William S.; Hokkanen, Laura; Viken, Richard J.; Tuulio‐Henriksson, Annamari; Rose, Richard J.

doi:10.1177/0956797610376075

Cited by 74 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Data were fully consistent with the hypothesis that increased prenatal testosterone exposure in females masculinizes mental rotation performance with OS female twins having a higher mental rotation performance than SS female twins (Vuoksimaa et al 2010;Heil et al 2011). The organizational effect of testosterone is also supported by studies in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

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Spatial abilities are not related to testosterone levels and variation in the androgen receptor in healthy young men

Kubranská

Lakatošová²,

Schmidtová³

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Androgens modulate brain functions such as cognition, emotions and ability. Several studies have shown a correlation between testosterone levels and mental rotation. The aim of the present study was to confirm the influence of salivary testosterone levels, 2D/4D ratio (such as a putative marker of prenatal testosterone), and sensitivity of androgen receptor on the mental rotation in healthy young men. Seventy-five healthy young men (age, 21.86 year) volunteered in this study. Mental rotation scores of our subjects were assessed using the Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test. The 2D/4D finger length ratio as an indicator of prenatal testosterone was used as an average measurement of both hands. Correlation analysis revealed no correlation between salivary testosterone levels and mental rotation. However, we have observed a trend towards a negative correlation. There were no statistically significant results between 2D/4D ratio and mental rotation or between polymorphic three-nucleotide (CAG) repeats and mental rotation tests. Future studies should focus on other genetic determinants of spatial abilities, potentially genes involved in testosterone metabolism.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…It was suggested that circulating testosterone does not predict mental rotation in young men, but its influence may be earlier, during the prenatal period (Puts et al 2010). Organizational effect was supported by Heil et al (2011) and Vuoksimaa et al (2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Spatial abilities are not related to testosterone levels and variation in the androgen receptor in healthy young men

Kubranská

Lakatošová²,

Schmidtová³

et al. 2014

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“…There were significantly more males than females in the top 5%, F(1,445) = 36.5, p <.001, and 10%, F(1,445) = 67.8, p <.001, scorers, whereas number of females was significantly greater in subjects who scored in the bottom 4%, F(1,445) = 8.37, p <.01, or 8%, F(1,445) = 20.1, p <.001 (Table 1). The mean MRT scores by sex and zygosity are reported elsewhere (see Vuoksimaa et al, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used sex as a covariate and allowed different means for females and males due to sex effect on mean MRT scores. Among females, different means were allowed for females with male co-twins and for females with female co-twins due to significant difference in MRT performance between these two groups of females (see Vuoksimaa et al, 2010). The fit of the full ACE sex-limitation model was compared to the saturated model: the nonsignificant (p = .09) change in minus two times log likelihood was 17.77 (df = 11) indicating that full sex-limitation model was acceptable.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are There Sex Differences in the Genetic and Environmental Effects on Mental Rotation Ability?

Vuoksimaa¹,

Viken

Hokkanen

et al. 2010

Twin Res Hum Genet

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Probably the most robust sex difference in cognitive abilities is that on average males outperform females in tests of mental rotation. Using twin data we tested whether there are sex differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental effects on mental rotation test performance and whether the same or different genetic effects operate in females and males. The present study replicated the well-known male advantage in mental rotation ability. The relative proportion of variance explained by genetic effects did not differ between females and males, but interestingly, absolute additive genetic and unique environmental variances were greater in males reflecting significantly greater phenotypic variance in mental rotation test performance in males. Over half of the variance in mental rotation test performance was explained by genetic effects, which suggest that mental rotation ability is a good phenotype for studies finding genes underlying spatial abilities. Results indicate that females and males could be combined for such genetic studies, because the same genetic effects affected mental rotation test performance in females and males.

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“…McFadden (1993), McFadden and Loehlin (1995), and McFadden, Loehlin and Pasanen (1996) did not measure other purportedly masculinized characteristics or behaviors in their female subjects having a male co-twin, next to their relatively masculinized auditory system. However, several other studies found that women with a male co-twin, in contrast to same-sex female twins, showed significantly masculinized behavioral and cognitive traits, as well as more masculine personality traits (Boklage, 1985;Cohen-Bendahan, Buitelaar, van Goozen, & Cohen-Kettenis, 2004;Cohen-Bendahan, Buitelaar, van Goozen, Orlebeke, & Cohen-Kettenis, 2005;Resnick, Gottesman, & McGue,1993;Slutske,Bascom,Meier,Medland,&Martin,2011;Vuoksimaa et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Click-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder

et al. 2014

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Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) are echo-like sounds that are produced by the inner ear in response to click-stimuli. CEOAEs generally have a higher amplitude in women compared to men and neonates already show a similar sex difference in CEOAEs. Weaker responses in males are proposed to originate from elevated levels of testosterone during perinatal sexual differentiation. Therefore, CEOAEs may be usedas a retrospective indicator of someone's perinatal androgen environment. Individuals diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID), according to DSM-IV-TR, are characterized by a strong identification with the other gender and discomfort about their natal sex. Although the etiology of GID is far from established, itishypothesizedthat atypicallevels of sexsteroids during a critical period of sexual differentiation of the brain might play a role. In the present study, we compared CEOAEs in treatmentnaïve children and adolescents with early-onset GID (24 natal boys, 23 natal girls) and control subjects (65 boys, 62 girls). We replicated the sex difference in CEOAE response amplitude in the control group. This sex difference, however, was not present in the GID groups. Boys with GID showed stronger, more female-typical CEOAEs whereas girls with GID did not differ in emissionstrengthcomparedtocontrolgirls.Basedontheassumption that CEOAE amplitude can be seen as an index of relative androgen exposure,our results provide some evidence for the idea that boys with GID may have been exposed to lower amounts of androgen during early development in comparison to control boys.

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Having a Male Co-Twin Masculinizes Mental Rotation Performance in Females

Cited by 74 publications

References 16 publications

Spatial abilities are not related to testosterone levels and variation in the androgen receptor in healthy young men

Spatial abilities are not related to testosterone levels and variation in the androgen receptor in healthy young men

Are There Sex Differences in the Genetic and Environmental Effects on Mental Rotation Ability?

Click-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder

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