Is there an effect of prenatal testosterone on aggression and other behavioral traits? A study comparing same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls

Cohen-Bendahan, Celina C. C.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Goozen, Stephanie Helena Maria Van; Orlebeke, J.F.; Cohen‐Kettenis, Peggy T.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.10.006

Cited by 101 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This stands in contrast to three studies in children, in which sex-typed behavior was measured and found not to differentiate OS and SS females [191][192][193], suggesting the possibility of Type I error with many comparisons in the Australian study. A recent study [184] of aggression and sensation-seeking also revealed mixed results: compared to SS girls, OS girls reported more verbal aggression and less withdrawal behavior in aggressive situations (and these were not related to current circulating testosterone levels), but less experience seeking, contradictory to expectations and to other results [62]. Inconsistencies across studies might reflect differences in age.…”

Section: 123mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Some studies have found OS females to be more masculine than SS females, on traits such as sensation-seeking [62], rulebreaking [188], and social attitudes [189], although differences are not always seen [182,184,188]. There is some suggestion of an age effect in one study [188], with differences between twin groups in younger females (mean 23.4 years) but not in older ones (mean 41.2).…”

Section: 123mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings

Cohen-Bendahan

Beek

Berenbaum

2005

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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There is now good evidence that human sex-typed behavior is influenced by sex hormones that are present during prenatal development, confirming studies in other mammalian species. Most of the evidence comes from clinical populations, in which prenatal hormone exposure is atypical for a person's sex, but there is increasing evidence from the normal population for the importance of prenatal hormones. In this paper, we briefly review the evidence, focusing attention on the methods used to study behavioral effects of prenatal hormones. We discuss the promises and pitfalls of various types of studies, including those using clinical populations (concentrating on those most commonly studied, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, androgen insensitivity syndrome, ablatio penis, and cloacal exstrophy), direct measures of hormones in the general population (assayed through umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, and maternal serum during pregnancy), and indirect measures of hormones in the general population (inferred from intrauterine position and biomarkers such as otoacoustic emissions, finger length ratios, and dermatoglyphic asymmetries). We conclude with suggestions for interpreting and conducting studies of the behavioral effects of prenatal hormones. q

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Section: 123mentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: 123mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings

Cohen-Bendahan

Beek

Berenbaum

2005

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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491

400

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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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“…the maternal-fetal transfer route (via maternal bloodstream), and the fetofetal transfer route (hormones diffusing through amniotic membranes) (16). Some studies applying this 'same sex-opposite sex paradigm' confirm the masculinizing effect of a male co-twin on a female for less left hemispheric dominance in processing verbal stimuli (17), more aggression (18), less reproductive fitness (19), and disordered eating (20). However, other studies did not demonstrate a masculinizing effect of a male co-twin e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…for birth weight (21), aggression (22,23), disordered eating (24), pubertal development, and fertility (25) or handedness (26). Importantly, pubertal stage and circulating testosterone levels could not account for the differences in aggression between the group having a male co-twin versus the group having a female co-twin (18). The masculinizing pattern for disordered eating was also observed in males with a male co-twin as compared with a female co-twin and socialization from growing up with a male sibling did not account for the differences in disordered eating (20).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does having a twin brother make for a bigger brain?

Peper

Brouwer

Baal

et al. 2009

European Journal of Endocrinology

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Objective: Brain volume of boys is larger than that of girls by w10%. Prenatal exposure to testosterone has been suggested in the masculinization of the brain. For example, in litter-bearing mammals intrauterine position increases prenatal testosterone exposure through adjacent male fetuses, resulting in masculinization of brain morphology. Design: The influence of intrauterine presence of a male co-twin on masculinization of human brain volume was studied in 9-year old twins. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging brain scans, current testosterone, and estradiol levels were acquired from four groups of dizygotic (DZ) twins: boys from same-sex twin-pairs (SSM), boys from opposite-sex twin-pairs (OSM), girls from opposite-sex twin-pairs (OSF), and girls from same-sex twinpairs (SSF; nZ119 individuals). Data on total brain, cerebellum, gray and white matter volumes were examined. Results: Irrespective of their own sex, children with a male co-twin as compared to children with a female co-twin had larger total brain (C2.5%) and cerebellum (C5.5%) volumes. SSM, purportedly exposed to the highest prenatal testosterone levels, were found to have the largest volumes, followed by OSM, OSF and SSF children. Birth weight partly explained the effect on brain volumes. Current testosterone and estradiol levels did not account for the volumetric brain differences. However, the effects observed in children did not replicate in adult twins. Conclusions: Our study indicates that sharing the uterus with a DZ twin brother increases total brain volume in 9-year olds. The effect may be transient and limited to a critical period in childhood.

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Is there an effect of prenatal testosterone on aggression and other behavioral traits? A study comparing same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls

Cited by 101 publications

References 31 publications

Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings

Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings

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

Does having a twin brother make for a bigger brain?

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