Masculinized Finger Length Patterns in Human Males and Females with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Brown, Windy M.; Hines, Melissa; Fane, Briony A.; Breedlove, S. Marc

doi:10.1006/hbeh.2002.1830

Cited by 437 publications

(352 citation statements)

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“…It has long been known that the relative length of these digits is close to 1.0 in women but is lower in men (Phelps, 1952). This has been experimentally recorded in a number of number of recent studies (Brown, Hines, Fane, & Breedloves, 2002;Manning, 2002;Manning, Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, & Sanders, 2001;Ö kten, Kalyoncu, & Yaris, 2002), and has also been demonstrated in metacarpal length of male and female baboons (McFadden & Bracht, 2003). Additionally, 2D:4D correlates with testosterone concentration in adult males (Manning et al, 1998), and masculinised (lower) 2D:4D is found in females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a genetic disorder which leads to high levels of prenatal androgens (Brown et al, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 64%

“…This has been experimentally recorded in a number of number of recent studies (Brown, Hines, Fane, & Breedloves, 2002;Manning, 2002;Manning, Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, & Sanders, 2001;Ö kten, Kalyoncu, & Yaris, 2002), and has also been demonstrated in metacarpal length of male and female baboons (McFadden & Bracht, 2003). Additionally, 2D:4D correlates with testosterone concentration in adult males (Manning et al, 1998), and masculinised (lower) 2D:4D is found in females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a genetic disorder which leads to high levels of prenatal androgens (Brown et al, 2002). A possible link between 2D:4D and motion perception has been suggested (Ramus, 2002) based on the understanding that foetal testosterone is known to mediate aspects of cortical development, and has been implicated in the development of sex differences in cognition and the development of cerebral laterality (Geschwind & Galaburda, 1985).…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

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Motion and Form Coherence Detection in Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Relationship to Motor Control and 2:4 Digit Ratio

Milne

White²,

Campbell³

et al. 2006

J Autism Dev Disord

124

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Children with autistic spectrum disorder and controls performed tasks of coherent motion and form detection, and motor control. Additionally, the ratio of the 2nd and 4th digits of these children, which is thought to be an indicator of foetal testosterone, was measured. Children in the experimental group were impaired at tasks of motor control, and had lower 2D:4D than controls. There were no group differences in motion or form detection. However a sub-group of children with autism were selectively impaired at motion detection. There were significant relationships between motion coherence detection and motor control in both groups of children, and also between motion detection, fine motor control and 2D:4D in the group of children with autistic spectrum disorder.

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mentioning

confidence: 64%

mentioning

confidence: 88%

Motion and Form Coherence Detection in Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Relationship to Motor Control and 2:4 Digit Ratio

Milne

White²,

Campbell³

et al. 2006

J Autism Dev Disord

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Only right hand measurements were used in this study, as the sexual dimorphism in digit ratio appears strongest for this hand . Further, right hand digit ratio appears to be most consistently associated to sex-linked behaviors and hormone measures (Brown et al, 2002;Manning et al, 1998;McFadden & Shubel, 2002;Williams et al, 2000).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Desdicioglu, 2006;Manning, 2002;Manning, Scutt, Wilson, & Lewis-Jones, 1998). Digit ratio also varies predictably between women with typical female prenatal development and women exposed to more "masculine" prenatal hormone levels because of an endocrine disorder (congenital adrenal hyperplasia or CAH) (Brown, Hines, Fane, & Breedlove, 2002;Okten, Kalyoncu, & Yarvis, 2002; but see Buck, Williams, Hughes, & Acerini, 2003). Some evidence suggests that the 2D:4D ratio is a direct correlate of prenatal sex steroid levels (Lutchmaya, Baron-Cohen, Raggatt, Knickmeyer, & Manning, 2004;Manning et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anxiety, Sex-Linked Behaviors, and Digit Ratios (2D:4D)

Evardone

Alexander

2007

Arch Sex Behav

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The second to fourth (2D:4D) digit ratio, a sexually dimorphic, phenotypic characteristic putatively associated with perinatal androgen action, has been used to evaluate the hypothesized relation between prenatal hormonal factors and a variety of sexually dimorphic behaviors, including sexlinked psychopathology. Smaller digit ratios, suggestive of stronger perinatal androgen action, have been associated with male-linked disorders (e.g., autism), and larger digit ratios, suggestive of weaker perinatal androgen action, have been associated with female-linked disorders (e.g., depression and eating disorders). To evaluate the possible relation between digit ratio and another traditionally female-linked disorder, anxiety, 2D:4D ratios were measured in a non-clinical sample (58 men, 52 women). Participants also completed a battery of anxiety and gender role measures and performed two spatial/cognitive tasks typically showing a male advantage (mental rotation and targeting) and two tasks typically showing a female advantage (location memory and spatial working memory). Men with a more feminine pattern of sex-linked traits and behaviors (including digit ratios) reported greater anxiety. In contrast, greater anxiety in women was associated with both female-typical and male-typical traits and behaviors, and no significant association between digit ratio and anxiety was found. This pattern of results suggests that the development of anxiety is multiply determined, with contributing factors varying by sex.

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“…Girls with CAH exhibit lower 2D:4D digit ratios, compared with same-sex controls (Brown, Hines, Fane, & Breedlove, 2002; Okten, Kalyancu, & Yaris, 2002). In addition, Manning, Scutt, Wilson, and Lewis-Jones (1998) found a negative correlation between circulating testosterone and digit ratios in men.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Masculinized finger-length ratios of boys, but not girls, are associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Martel

Gobrogge

Breedlove

et al. 2008

Behavioral Neuroscience

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Gonadal hormones may exert permanent organizational effects on sexually dimorphic finger-length ratios and sexually dimorphic behavior expressed in childhood attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study extended recent work examining associations between finger-length ratios (specifically, 2D:4D) and ADHD in a well-characterized, clinically diagnosed, communityrecruited sample of boys and girls. A multistage, diagnostic procedure was utilized to identify 113 children with ADHD and 137 non-ADHD comparison children. Right-hand digit ratios showed significant mean differences by gender, as well as associations with ADHD diagnosis. Boys with ADHD had more masculinized digit ratios than control-group boys. More masculine right 2D:4D and 3D:4D ratios were correlated with parent-and teacher-rated inattentive and hyperactiveimpulsive symptoms in boys but not in girls. Masculinized finger-length ratios were associated with hyperactive-impulsive and oppositional-defiant symptoms, but associations were largest with symptoms of inattention. It is concluded that prenatal, organizational effects of gonadal hormones may play a role in the development of ADHD and contribute to explaining sex differences in the prevalence rates of this childhood disorder. Keywordstestosterone; finger-length ratio; 2D:4D; ADHD; sex differences Males are more vulnerable than females to developing a range of learning and behavioral disorders during childhood. Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common and impairing sexually dimorphic clinical psychopathologies, with boys about three times more likely to be identified with ADHD than girls in population samples (American Psychiatric Association, 2000;Pastor & Reuben, 2002;Wolraich, Hannah, Baumgaertel, & Feurer, 1998). In addition, there may be sex differences in the correlates of the disorder. Although boys with ADHD appear to be more inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive than girls with the disorder, particularly in school (Gaub & Carlson, 1997;Gershon, 2002;Hartung et al., 2002), girls with ADHD may have worse cognitive impairment than boys with the disorder (Biederman et al., 1999;Gaub & Carlson, 1997;Newcorn et al., 2001). The precise neurobiological mechanisms underlying sex differences in the prevalence rates of developmental learning and behavioral disorders are complex and underresearched.The male sex bias in ADHD and its precursor behaviors is apparent during early preschool years (Hart, Lahey, Loeber, Applegate, & Frick, 1995), a period marked by rapid neural organization (Breedlove & Hampson, 2002). Males are typically exposed to testosterone perinatally, whereas females develop in the relative absence of testosterone (Morris, Jordan, & Breedlove, 2004). This differential exposure to steroid hormones produces specific malelike and/or female-like brain-behavior patterns . Therefore, these prenatal events may be related to sex differences in prevalence rates of ADHD. However, research on hormonal effects in ADHD is sparse, despite conse...

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Masculinized Finger Length Patterns in Human Males and Females with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Cited by 437 publications

References 28 publications

Motion and Form Coherence Detection in Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Relationship to Motor Control and 2:4 Digit Ratio

Motion and Form Coherence Detection in Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Relationship to Motor Control and 2:4 Digit Ratio

Anxiety, Sex-Linked Behaviors, and Digit Ratios (2D:4D)

Masculinized finger-length ratios of boys, but not girls, are associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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