Investigating Effects of Steroid Hormones on Lateralization of Brain and Behavior

Beking, Tess; Geuze, Reint; Groothuis, Ton G. G.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-6725-4_20

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…In the current study, we focused on the right-hand digit ratio, as it has been previously reported to show a stronger relationship with sex-specific traits [ 3 , 11 , 17 , 53 ]. Only self-reported right-handed participants were selected for the analysis, since they were the majority, and it is known that handedness, as a presumable consequence of specific cerebral lateralization, may be associated with exposure to prenatal sex hormones [ [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] ]. Therefore, the final sample consisted of 168 individuals (80 women, 88 men).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second-to-fourth digit ratio and facial shape in Buryats of Southern Siberia

Rostovtseva

Mezentseva

Windhager

et al. 2020

Early Human Development

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Background The 2nd-to-4th digit ratio (2D:4D) is a putative predictor of a prenatal exposure to sex hormones. 2D:4D is sexually dimorphic (males < females). Studies, linking digit ratio and full facial shapes among Europeans, show that a low 2D:4D is associated with a set of male-specific facial features. Buryats – Mongolian people from Southern Siberia – demonstrate a different pattern of facial sexual dimorphism than Europeans (narrower and more vertically elongated faces in men as opposed to women). Aim The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between facial shape and the 2D:4D in comparison to the pattern of facial sexual dimorphism in Buryats. Subjects Buryats: 88 men and 80 women aged 20 ± 2 years. Outcome measures To assess relationship between facial shape and 2D:4D we used a geometric morphometric approach based on standardized full-face frontal photographs and direct measurements of the digit lengths among right-handed individuals. Results The results revealed that 2D:4D was associated with facial morphology in Buryat men, and to a lesser extent in women. Narrower faces, elongated in the vertical direction, and a narrower lower facial outline, were characteristic of Buryat men with low 2D:4D ratios, which corresponded to the male-like facial shapes in Buryats. Conclusions In Europeans, such facial features were reported for men with a high 2D:4D, which corresponded more to female-like European facial shapes. Hence, our results show that sex-specific morphogenesis in humans is multidirectional, and that digit ratio is capable of predicting sex-specific facial traits even in populations with differing sexually-dimorphic morphology.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second-to-fourth digit ratio and facial shape in Buryats of Southern Siberia

Rostovtseva

Mezentseva

Windhager

et al. 2020

Early Human Development

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“…From research on chicks, we know that visual lateralization changes markedly over early, and critical, stages of development (see [4,104], p. 120) and that it can be modulated by steroid hormones [105][106][107] and environmental stimulation (e.g., light exposure, discussed above). A recent review by Hausmann [108] considers the influence of sex hormones on lateralization in humans and points out the difficulties in drawing conclusions from the research on humans.…”

Section: Multiple Modality Laterality and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Matter of Degree: Strength of Brain Asymmetry and Behaviour

Rogers

2017

Symmetry

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Abstract:Research on a growing number of vertebrate species has shown that the left and right sides of the brain process information in different ways and that lateralized brain function is expressed in both specific and broad aspects of behaviour. This paper reviews the available evidence relating strength of lateralization to behavioural/cognitive performance. It begins by considering the relationship between limb preference and behaviour in humans and primates from the perspectives of direction and strength of lateralization. In birds, eye preference is used as a reflection of brain asymmetry and the strength of this asymmetry is associated with behaviour important for survival (e.g., visual discrimination of food from non-food and performance of two tasks in parallel). The same applies to studies on aquatic species, mainly fish but also tadpoles, in which strength of lateralization has been assessed as eye preferences or turning biases. Overall, the empirical evidence across vertebrate species points to the conclusion that stronger lateralization is advantageous in a wide range of contexts. Brief discussion of interhemispheric communication follows together with discussion of experiments that examined the effects of sectioning pathways connecting the left and right sides of the brain, or of preventing the development of these left-right connections. The conclusion reached is that degree of functional lateralization affects behaviour in quite similar ways across vertebrate species. Although the direction of lateralization is also important, in many situations strength of lateralization matters more. Finally, possible interactions between asymmetry in different sensory modalities is considered.

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“…More specifically, left-handedness was associated with low right hand 2D:4D and a relatively low right hand 2D:4D relative to left hand 2D:4D (D [R-L] ), both of which have been proposed to indicate high prenatal testosterone (Manning, 2002), but also with high left hand 2D:4D, which is considered to indicate low prenatal testosterone. However, the value of 2D:4D as a proxy for prenatal testosterone has been questioned (e.g., Beking et al, 2017;Berenbaum et al, 2009;Putz et al, 2004;Richards, 2017;Richards et al, 2020b;Richards et al, 2020b;Wallen, 2009;Wong and Hines, 2016) and using more direct measures of hormones may result in greater consistency of findings.…”

Section: Studies Of Prenatal Testosterone and Handednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predictably, there is a large and robust sex difference, with amniotic testosterone being higher when the foetus is male (Auyeung et al, 2009;Bergman et al, 2010;Finegan et al, 1992;Judd et al, 1976;Rodeck et al, 1985;Ventura et al, 2013), although there is a certain amount of overlap (Lust et al, 2010(Lust et al, , 2011; a recent meta-analysis reported an effect size estimate of d = 1.71 (Baron-Cohen et al, 2015, see supplementary materials of that paper). Some researchers (e.g., Baron-Cohen et al, 2004;Beking et al, 2017;van de Beek et al, 2004) have suggested that examining testosterone concentrations present in amniotic fluid is the best method for investigating the effects of foetal androgens on subsequent phenotype.…”

Section: Amniotic Testosterone and Handednessmentioning

confidence: 99%