Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis

Two competing theories address the influence of foetal testosterone on cerebral laterality: one proposing exposure to high foetal testosterone concentrations is related to atypical lateralisation (Geschwind–Galaburda hypothesis), the other that high foetal testosterone concentrations exaggerate typi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hollier, Lauren, Maybery, M., Keelan, J., Hickey, M., Whitehouse, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier BV 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15205
_version_ 1848748830656299008
author Hollier, Lauren
Maybery, M.
Keelan, J.
Hickey, M.
Whitehouse, A.
author_facet Hollier, Lauren
Maybery, M.
Keelan, J.
Hickey, M.
Whitehouse, A.
author_sort Hollier, Lauren
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Two competing theories address the influence of foetal testosterone on cerebral laterality: one proposing exposure to high foetal testosterone concentrations is related to atypical lateralisation (Geschwind–Galaburda hypothesis), the other that high foetal testosterone concentrations exaggerate typical lateralisation (callosal hypothesis). The current study examined the relationship between cord testosterone concentrations and cerebral laterality for language and spatial memory in adulthood. Male participants with high (>0.15 nmol) and low (<0.10 nmol) cord testosterone levels were invited to take part in the study (n = 18 in each group). Cerebral laterality was measured using functional Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, while participants completed word generation and visual short-term memory tasks. Typical left lateralisation of language was more common in the high-testosterone group than in the low-testosterone group, χ2 = 4.50, df = 1, p = 034. Spatial memory laterality was unrelated to cord testosterone level. Our findings indicate that foetal testosterone exposure is related to language laterality in a direction that supports the callosal hypothesis.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:11:17Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-15205
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:11:17Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Elsevier BV
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-152052017-09-13T15:04:45Z Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis Hollier, Lauren Maybery, M. Keelan, J. Hickey, M. Whitehouse, A. Cerebral laterality Foetal testosterone fTCD Language Raine study Visuospatial memory Two competing theories address the influence of foetal testosterone on cerebral laterality: one proposing exposure to high foetal testosterone concentrations is related to atypical lateralisation (Geschwind–Galaburda hypothesis), the other that high foetal testosterone concentrations exaggerate typical lateralisation (callosal hypothesis). The current study examined the relationship between cord testosterone concentrations and cerebral laterality for language and spatial memory in adulthood. Male participants with high (>0.15 nmol) and low (<0.10 nmol) cord testosterone levels were invited to take part in the study (n = 18 in each group). Cerebral laterality was measured using functional Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, while participants completed word generation and visual short-term memory tasks. Typical left lateralisation of language was more common in the high-testosterone group than in the low-testosterone group, χ2 = 4.50, df = 1, p = 034. Spatial memory laterality was unrelated to cord testosterone level. Our findings indicate that foetal testosterone exposure is related to language laterality in a direction that supports the callosal hypothesis. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15205 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.08.009 Elsevier BV restricted
spellingShingle Cerebral laterality
Foetal testosterone
fTCD
Language
Raine study
Visuospatial memory
Hollier, Lauren
Maybery, M.
Keelan, J.
Hickey, M.
Whitehouse, A.
Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis
title Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis
title_full Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis
title_fullStr Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis
title_full_unstemmed Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis
title_short Perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: Evidence for the callosal hypothesis
title_sort perinatal testosterone exposure and cerebral lateralisation in adult males: evidence for the callosal hypothesis
topic Cerebral laterality
Foetal testosterone
fTCD
Language
Raine study
Visuospatial memory
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15205