Journal of Child Neurology

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/childneurology

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Knickmeyer, R. C.
Right arrow Articles by Baron-Cohen, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Knickmeyer, R. C.
Right arrow Articles by Baron-Cohen, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 21, No. 10, 825-845 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/08830738060210101601
© 2006 SAGE Publications

Reviews

Topical Review: Fetal Testosterone and Sex Differences in Typical Social Development and in Autism

Rebecca Christine Knickmeyer, PhD

Department of Psychiatry University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, rebecca_knickmeyer{at}med.unc.edu.

Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD

The Autism Research Centre Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Experiments in animals leave no doubt that androgens, including testosterone, produced by the testes in fetal and/or neonatal life act on the brain to induce sex differences in neural structure and function. In human beings, there is evidence supporting a female superiority in the ability to read nonverbal signals, specific language-related skills, and theory of mind. Even more striking than the sex differences seen in the typical population is the elevated occurrence of social and communicative difficulties in human males. One such condition, autism, occurs four times more frequently in boys than in girls. Recently, a novel theory known as the ``extreme male brain'' has been proposed. It suggests that the behaviors seen in autism are an exaggeration of typical sex differences and that exposure to high levels of prenatal testosterone might be a risk factor. In this article, we argue that prenatal and neonatal testosterone exposures are strong candidates for having a causal role in sexual dimorphism in human behavior, including social development, and as risk factors for conditions characterized by social impairments, particularly autism spectrum conditions. (J Child Neurol 2006;21:825—845; DOI 10.2310/7010.2006.00213).


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ScienceHome page
T. Clutton-Brock
Sexual Selection in Males and Females
Science, December 21, 2007; 318(5858): 1882 - 1885.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]