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Neonatal sex-steroid hormones and cognitive abilities at six years

C N Jacklin1, K T Wilcox, E E Maccoby

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089-1061.

Developmental Psychobiology
|September 1, 1988
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal exposure to androgens like testosterone and androstenedione may impact spatial abilities in girls by age six. This study found no such effects in boys, suggesting sex-specific hormonal influences on cognitive development.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Health

Background:

  • Sex steroid hormones play crucial roles in fetal development, including brain organization.
  • The influence of perinatal hormone levels on long-term cognitive outcomes remains an area of active research.
  • Understanding sex-specific effects of hormones is vital for comprehending developmental trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between perinatal sex steroid hormone levels and cognitive abilities at age six.
  • To determine if these associations differ between boys and girls.
  • To explore the predictive power of specific androgens on cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

  • Assayed five sex steroid hormones (testosterone, androstenedione, estradiol, estrone, progesterone) in umbilical cord blood.
  • Assessed cognitive abilities (reading, numbers, listening, spatial ability) in children at a 6-year follow-up visit.
  • Utilized multiple regression analyses to examine hormone-cognition relationships, stratified by sex.

Main Results:

  • No significant sex differences were observed in overall cognitive ability scores.
  • Higher levels of perinatal androgens (testosterone and androstenedione) were significantly linked to lower spatial ability scores in girls at age six.
  • Testosterone and androstenedione significantly predicted cognitive variances in girls, but not in boys.

Conclusions:

  • Perinatal androgen exposure may have a lasting, albeit inverse, effect on spatial cognitive abilities in girls.
  • The impact of these hormones on cognitive development appears to be sex-specific.
  • Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these sex-differentiated hormonal influences on cognition.

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