The female phenotype: Nature's default?

Fitch, R. Holly; Cowell, Patricia E.; Denenberg, Victor H.

doi:10.1080/87565649809540710

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…We are not aware of comparable data that address the role of estrogen of ovarian origin in guinea pig or monkey development, and to our knowledge no such studies have been conducted. We note, however, the longstanding view that estrogens were of little or no importance in the sexual differentiation of a rather well-studied longgestation species, humans, and the recent accumulation of evidence showing that estrogen is important to the brain and behavior of women after all (Stewart, Halpern; see also Fitch et al 1998).…”

Section: R3 Species Generalizationsmentioning

confidence: 78%

A role for ovarian hormones in sexual differentiation of the brain

Fitch¹,

Denenberg²

1998

Behav Brain Sci

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159

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Historically, studies of the role of endogenous hormones in developmental differentiation of the sexes have suggested that mammalian sexual differentiation is mediated primarily by testicular androgens, and that exposure to androgens in early life leads to a male brain as defined by neuroanatomy and behavior. The female brain has been assumed to develop via a hormonal default mechanism, in the absence of androgen or other hormones. Ovarian hormones have significant effects on the development of a sexually dimorphic cortical structure, the corpus callosum, which is larger in male than in female rats. In the females, removal of the ovaries as late as Day 16 increases the cross-sectional area of the adult corpus callosum. Treatment with low-dose estradiol starting on Day 25 inhibits this effect. Female callosa are also enlarged by a combination of daily postnatal handling and exogenous testosterone administered prior to Day 8. The effects of androgen treatment are expressed early in development, with males and testosterone-treated females having larger callosa than control females as early as Day 30. The effects of ovariectomy do not appear until after Day 55. These findings are more consistent with other evidence of a later sensitive period for ovarian feminization as compared to androgenic masculinization.

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Section: R3 Species Generalizationsmentioning

confidence: 78%

A role for ovarian hormones in sexual differentiation of the brain

Fitch¹,

Denenberg²

1998

Behav Brain Sci

Self Cite

159

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“…For example, sex differences in early androgens are hypothesized to contribute to sex differences in spatial ability, and natural variations in levels or availability of androgens among normal males and females to withinsex variability in spatial ability. But, some have advocated the use of a broad range of behavioral measures, arguing against simple extrapolation of findings in animals to humans [53], or that hormones may produce sex differences in brain organization and behavioral processes without necessarily producing average differences in performance [36]. Studies from this perspective have been exploratory in approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fetuses of both sexes are exposed to high levels of estrogens from the placenta, perhaps explaining why estrogen does not play a large role in prenatal development. Very little is known about the human behavioral effects of ovarian estrogens during early development (organizational effects) [21] It has been suggested that estrogen's organizational effects occur during early postnatal rather than prenatal development [36,37], but there is no relevant evidence. Progestins from the ovary are thought to have anti-androgenic effects, but there are also reports that they act as androgens [21], and it may be important to consider that effects vary by dose [38].…”

Section: Feminization As An Active or Passive Process?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings

Cohen-Bendahan

Beek

Berenbaum

2005

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

485

400

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There is now good evidence that human sex-typed behavior is influenced by sex hormones that are present during prenatal development, confirming studies in other mammalian species. Most of the evidence comes from clinical populations, in which prenatal hormone exposure is atypical for a person's sex, but there is increasing evidence from the normal population for the importance of prenatal hormones. In this paper, we briefly review the evidence, focusing attention on the methods used to study behavioral effects of prenatal hormones. We discuss the promises and pitfalls of various types of studies, including those using clinical populations (concentrating on those most commonly studied, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, androgen insensitivity syndrome, ablatio penis, and cloacal exstrophy), direct measures of hormones in the general population (assayed through umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, and maternal serum during pregnancy), and indirect measures of hormones in the general population (inferred from intrauterine position and biomarkers such as otoacoustic emissions, finger length ratios, and dermatoglyphic asymmetries). We conclude with suggestions for interpreting and conducting studies of the behavioral effects of prenatal hormones. q

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“…Ovarian estrogen is known to affect the organisation of many neurobehavioural systems in both humans and nonhuman species [1,3,13]. Fluctuations of ovarian estrogen are known to affect a number of activational parameters at the neuroanatomical, neurofunctional and behavioural levels [7,15,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hormones and temporal components of speech: sex differences and effects of menstrual cyclicity on speech

Whiteside

Hanson

Cowell

2004

Neuroscience Letters

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Article:Whiteside, S.P., Hanson, A. and Cowell, P.E. (2004) Hormones and temporal components of speech: sex differences and effects of menstrual cyclicity on speech. Neuroscience Letters, 367 (1). pp. [44][45][46][47] https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.neulet.2004.05.076 eprints@whiterose.ac.uk https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. White Rose Research Online AbstractVoice onset time (VOT) is a salient acoustic parameter of speech which signals the "voiced"and "voiceless" status of plosives in English (e.g. the initial sound in 'bat' vs. the initial sound in 'pat'). As a micro-temporal acoustic parameter, VOT may be sensitive to changes in hormones which may affect the neuromuscular systems involved in speech production. This study adopted a novel approach by investigating the effects of menstrual cycle phase and sex on VOT. VOT data representing the 6 plosives of English (/p b t d k g/) were examined for 7 women (age 20-23 years) at two phases of the menstrual cycle (day 18-25: High Estrogen and Progesterone; day 2-5: Low Estrogen and Progesterone). Results indicated that menstrual cycle phase had a significant interaction with the identity of the plosive (F (5,30) = 5.869, P < .002). Menstrual cycle phase also had significant effects on the contrasts between cognate voiced and voiceless plosives (F (1, 6) = 11.444, P < .02); samples from the high hormone phase displayed an enhanced voiced/voiceless contrast. Subsequently, VOT data samples from the two phases of the menstrual cycle were compared with those from 5 men in order to explore sex differences at different phases of the menstrual cycle. Low hormone phase samples displayed no significant sex differences for either VOT values (F (1,10) = 2.085, P > .05), or the contrast between voiced and voiceless cognates (F (1,10) = .407, P > .05). In contrast, the high hormone phase VOT samples displayed significant plosive by sex interactions (F (5,50) = 4.442, P < .005). In addition, significant sex differences were found for the contrasts between cognate voiced and voiceless plosives (F (1,10) = 5.019, P < .05); the women displayed a more marked voiced/voiceless contrast. The findings suggest that ovarian hormones play some role in shaping some temporal com...

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The female phenotype: Nature's default?

Cited by 14 publications

References 106 publications

A role for ovarian hormones in sexual differentiation of the brain

A role for ovarian hormones in sexual differentiation of the brain

Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings

Hormones and temporal components of speech: sex differences and effects of menstrual cyclicity on speech

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