Mental Rotation at 7 Years - Relations with Prenatal Testosterone Levels and Spatial Play Experiences

doi:10.1006/brcg.1995.1269

Brain and Cognition

Volume 29, Issue 1, October 1995, Pages 85-100

https://doi.org/10.1006/brcg.1995.1269 Get rights and content

Abstract

Biological and social-experiential factors appear to play a role in the male advantage in spatial abilities. In the present study, relations among prenatal testosterone levels, spatial play experiences, and mental rotation task performance were explored in 7-year-old boys and girls. A positive correlation was observed between prenatal testosterone levels and rate of rotation in girls. The findings were less clear for boys, but suggested the opposite pattern of results. Relations between spatial play preferences and mental rotation task performance were not observed in children of either sex. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone acts on the fetal brain to influence the development of spatial ability.

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Cited by (182)

Prenatal androgen exposure and children's gender-typed behavior and toy and playmate preferences
2021, Hormones and Behavior
We report findings from two studies investigating possible relations of prenatal androgen exposure to a broad measure of children's gender-typed behavior, as well as specifically to children's toy and playmate preferences. Study 1 investigated these outcomes for 43 girls and 38 boys, aged 4 to 11 years, with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH, a genetic condition causing increased adrenal androgen production beginning prenatally) compared to similarly-aged, unaffected relatives (41 girls, 31 boys). The predicted sex differences were found for all of the outcome measures. Furthermore, girls with CAH showed increased male-typical and decreased female-typical behavior and toy and playmate preferences compared to unaffected girls. Study 2 investigated the relationship of amniotic fluid testosterone to gender-typed behavior and toy and playmate preferences in typically developing children (48 girls, 44 boys) aged 3 to 5 years. Although the predicted sex differences were found for all of the outcome measures, amniotic fluid testosterone was not a significant correlate, in the predicted direction, of any outcome measure for either sex. The results of study 1 provide additional support for an influence of prenatal androgen exposure on children's gender-typed behavior, including toy and playmate preferences. The results of study 2 do not, but amniotic fluid testosterone may be an insufficiently sensitive measure of early androgen exposure. A more sensitive and reliable measure of prenatal androgen exposure may be needed to consistently detect relations to later gender typed behavior in non-clinical populations.
Human gender development
2020, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Human gender-related behavior/psychology is shaped by a developmental system that involves numerous influences interacting over time. Understanding of the full range of elements in the system and how they interact is currently incomplete. The available evidence suggests, however, that early exposure to testosterone, postnatal socialization, e.g., by parents and peers, and self-socialization related to cognitive understanding of gender are important elements. This article focuses on prenatal and early neonatal influences of testosterone on gender-related psychological/behavioral outcomes, and contextualizes these hormonal influences within an understanding of socialization influences. There is consistent evidence that early testosterone exposure influences childhood gender role behavior, including sex-typical toy play, as well as gender identity and sexual orientation. Evidence for similar hormonal influences on spatial ability and on traits related to autism, or autistic spectrum disorder, is inconsistent. Evidence from girls exposed to elevated testosterone prenatally suggests that they experience alterations in processes of external socialization, as well as self-socialization, and that these, along with early testosterone exposure, shape gender-related outcomes.
Amniotic testosterone and psychological sex differences: A systematic review of the extreme male brain theory
2020, Developmental Review
Citation Excerpt :
12 of these studies were conducted by Baron-Cohen’s group (Lutchmaya et al., 2001, 2002; Knickmeyer et al., 2005; Knickmeyer, Wheelright et al., 2005; Auyeung, 2006; Auyeung et al., 2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2012; Chapman et al., 2006; Knickmeyer et al., 2006). 13 were conducted in England (Lutchmaya et al., 2001a, 2002b, 2002c; Knickmeyer et al., 2005; Knickmeyer, Wheelright et al., 2005; Auyeung 2006; Auyeung et al., 2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2012; Chapman et al., 2006; Knickmeyer et al., 2006; Kung et al., 2016; Spencer et al., 2017), 1 Germany (Körner et al., 2019), 3 in Canada (Grimshaw et al., 1995a, 1995b; Finegan et al., 1992), and 4 in the Netherlands (Beking et al., 2018; van de Beek et al., 2009; Lust et al., 2010, 2011). Among the four articles that reported ASD symptoms in neurotypical children, all of them detected greater severity of ASD in males relative to females (Auyeung et al., 2009a, 2010; Kung et al., 2016).
Baron-Cohen (2002) proposed the Extreme Male Brain Theory (EMB) to suggest that foetal testosterone (FT) (1) is a component of the complex neurobiological aetiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and (2) accounts for its high male prevalence. The theory suggests that ASD is more common in males to an extreme manifestation of psychological maleness due to heightened testosterone exposure in the foetus.
To assess the EMB theory by reviewing cohort studies that directly assayed FT levels at 12–24 weeks of gestation in relation to subsequent ASD symptoms, ASD-related cognitions, social outcomes and playstyles prior to adolescence.
A systematic term to subject heading search was conducted on Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, ‘Ovid Medline Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily and Ovid Medline’, PsycARTICLES Full Text, and ProQuest up to December 2019. Studies that included the extraction of foetal fluid and children of both sexes were assessed in compliance with STROBE guidelines. Additional articles were obtained by reference list screening.
22 FT-assay studies ( $N = 2284$ ) containing EMB-associated traits as dependent variables were identified, including ASD symptoms, ASD-related cognition, sociality and playstyles. Their STROBE ratings ranged from 50% to 86.4%. FT significantly accounted for ASD-related traits beyond the child’s sex in 3 of 4 studies. 4 out of 9 papers looking at sexed ASD-related cognitive-styles and 2 of 3 examining social outcomes showed significant FT effect. 2 of 6 found that FT accounted for significant variance in behavioral indices that differ on average between the sexes. Chi-square tests $(χ^{2} (2, N = 22) = 4.46, P < . 05$ ) demonstrated that researchers affiliated with Baron-Cohen are significantly more likely to generate results fully supportive of EMB, with 25% ( $N = 3, P < . 05$ ) of positive findings produced by independent authors. Homogeneity of data did not account for this.
The certainty with which FT was established as an agent in sexual differentiation varies by the psychological variable in question, but none of the conclusions were supported by an adequate number of studies. Nevertheless, this review yields the following preliminary conclusions, which can be tested in future research. FT plays a plausible role in driving social and non-social ASD-related cognition as well as ASD symptoms across the sexes. FT accounts for gender differences on eye contact frequency and value-laden proposition use and mediates the narrowing of interest toward systems and exerts sex-specific effects on numerical and language abilities, though these studies require independent replication. The role of FT on the differentiation of play is consistently non-significant. Where an effect exists, it is largely dwarfed by the effect of sex and hence it is equivocal that second trimester FT affects play. Biological implications for sex differences are considered and more lifespan longitudinal amniocentesis studies are suggested to pursue greater clarity in the empirical bases of EMB.
Gender-affirming hormone treatment and cognitive function in transgender young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
2020, Psychoneuroendocrinology
Citation Excerpt :
Similar results were found in studies on aF with congenital adrenal hyperplasia showing enhanced spatial ability (Berenbaum, 2001), as well as in studies supporting that human spatial ability may be beneficially affected by prenatal androgens (Beking et al., 2018; Nguyen et al., 2017). In particular, second trimester testosterone levels seem to predict spatial ability positively in aF and negatively in aM at age seven (Grimshaw et al., 1995). Moreover, according to a twin study, aF with a aM co-twin exhibited superior spatial ability, possibly due to the in utero exposure to the androgens produced by their co-twin (Cole-Harding et al., 1988).
Previous studies have examined whether steroid hormone treatment in transgender individuals may affect cognitive function; yet, their limited power does not allow firm conclusions to be drawn. We leveraged data from to-date literature aiming to explore the effect of gender-affirming hormone administration on cognitive function in transgender individuals.
A search strategy of MEDLINE was developed (through June 1, 2019) using the key terms transgender, hormone therapy and cognitive function. Eligible were (i) cohort studies examining the longitudinal effect of hormone therapy on cognition, and (ii) cross-sectional studies comparing the cognitive function between treated and non-treated individuals. Standardized mean differences (Hedges’ g) were pooled using random-effects models. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
Ten studies (seven cohort and three cross-sectional) were eligible representing 234 birth-assigned males (aM) and 150 birth-assigned females (aF). The synthesis of cohort studies (n = 5) for visuospatial ability following hormone treatment showed a statistically significant enhancement among aF (g = 0.55, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.29, 0.82) and an improvement with a trend towards statistical significance among aM (g = 0.28, 95%CI: -0.01, 0.58). By contrast, no adverse effects of hormone administration were shown. No heterogeneity was evident in most meta-analyses.
Current evidence does not support an adverse impact of hormone therapy on cognitive function, whereas a statistically significant enhancing effect on visuospatial ability was shown in aF. New longitudinal studies with longer follow-up should explore the long-term effects of hormone therapy, especially the effects on younger individuals, where there is greater scarcity of data.
The development of mental rotation ability across the first year after birth
2020, Advances in Child Development and Behavior
Mental rotation (MR) is the ability to imagine the appearance of an object from a different perspective. This ability is involved in many human cognitive and behavioral activities. We discuss studies that have examined MR in infants and its development across the first year after birth. Despite some conflicting findings across these studies, several conclusions can be reached. First, MR may be available to human infants as young as 3 months of age. Second, MR processes in infancy may be similar or identical to MR processes later in life. Third, there may be sex differences in MR performance, in general favoring males. Fourth, there appear to be multiple influences on infants' MR performance, including infants' motor activity, stimulus complexity, hormones, and parental attitudes. We conclude by calling for additional research to examine more carefully the causes and consequences of MR abilities early in life.
Sex specific relationships between infants’ mental rotation ability and amiotic sex hormones
2019, Neuroscience Letters
Sex differences in mental rotation, robust in adults, have recently been reported for infants’ looking times although the pattern of results is not completely conclusive. In this context, organizational effects of gonadal steroids affecting the neural circuitry underlying spatial cognition could be (partly) responsible for the early sex difference. In the present study testosterone and estradiol levels measured in amniotic fluid via ultra performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry were used to examine the role of prenatal sex hormones on infants’ looking times during mental rotation. N = 208 six-month-old infants participated in an expectation of violation task with 3D cube figures. Mental rotation was defined as the difference in looking times for familiar versus mirrored cube figures whereas vigilance was defined as the sum of both looking times. Sex differences were absent for mental rotation as well as for vigilance. Most importantly, however, for boys mental rotation but not vigilance was correlated with prenatal testosterone but not with estradiol. For girls mental rotation but not vigilance was correlated with prenatal estradiol but not with testosterone although it has to be noted that the testosterone values for girls suffered from a floor effect. Only 5% of the within-sex variance was due to prenatal sex hormones indicating small effects. These findings extend our knowledge concerning organizational effects of prenatal sex hormones on the brain circuitry underlying spatial cognition.

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Mental Rotation at 7 Years - Relations with Prenatal Testosterone Levels and Spatial Play Experiences