This pioneering study looks at the effects of prenatal testosterone on postnataldevelopment and behavior. Hormonal effects on behavior have long been studied in animals; the uniquecontribution of this book is to suggest a connection between human fetal hormones and laterbehavior. It details for the first time testosterone's effect on social and language development,opening a new avenue of research for cognitive neuroscience.The authors look at samples of amnioticfluid taken during amniocentesis at 16 weeks' gestation, and relate the fetal level of testosterone(which is present in fetuses of both sexes, although in different quantities) to behavior at ages 1,2, and 4 years. They argue that the amniotic fluid provides a window into the child's past -- achemical record of that child's time in the womb -- that allows informed prediction about thechild's future brain, mind, and behavior. This is not the retrospective speculation ofpsychoanalysis, they point out, but an opportunity to study development prospectively and tracedevelopmental precursors and causes of later cognition.The study suggests that prenatal levels oftestosterone affect a range of later behaviors in children, from the inclination to make eye contactwith others to the size of the vocabulary. It also suggests that prenatal testosterone level may berelated to the development of typically "masculine" and "feminine" behaviors. The study's ongoingresearch explores whether fetal testosterone has any link with the risk of developing autism.Connecting endocrinology and psychology, the authors propose that there is a biological component tobehaviors often thought to be produced by the social environment.
The effect of prenatal levels of testosterone on development and behavior up to age 4.
