Martin Donel M, Wittert Gary, Burns Nicholas R
School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Aging Male. 2007 Mar;10(1):17-29. doi: 10.1080/13685530601183537.
The relationship between the gonadal steroids, testosterone and estrogen, and individual and group differences in performance on some cognitive tasks remains unclear but sex differences favoring males on some tests of visuo-spatial ability are large and robust. This aim of this review is to assess evidence for both organizational and activational effects of gonadal steroids as the principle cause of sex difference in visuo-spatial ability. Additionally, the implications of this relationship are discussed in the context of decreasing levels of gonadal steroids in aging males and psychological theories of generalized age-related cognitive decline. Based upon human and non-human research gonadal steroids have organizational effects on visuo-spatial ability in adulthood. Activational effects of gonadal steroids on visuo-spatial ability appear most dominant in older men and are necessary for maintaining optimal visuo-spatial ability; randomized clinical trials show that testosterone supplementation improves performance. Additionally, decreasing gonadal steroid levels in aging males may contribute to generalized age-related cognitive decline. Future supplementation studies in men should attempt to control for constituent abilities related to visuo-spatial task performance, and investigate interactions between dosage levels and baseline gonadal status. Further future animal research is required to investigate changes in gonadal steroid levels and their relationship to neurotransmitter systems, neural plasticity, and behavioral correlates.
性腺类固醇、睾酮和雌激素与某些认知任务表现中的个体及群体差异之间的关系仍不明确，但在一些视觉空间能力测试中，男性表现出的性别差异显著且稳定。本综述旨在评估性腺类固醇的组织效应和激活效应作为视觉空间能力性别差异主要成因的证据。此外，还在老年男性性腺类固醇水平下降以及与年龄相关的一般性认知衰退的心理学理论背景下，讨论了这种关系的影响。基于人类和非人类研究，性腺类固醇在成年期对视觉空间能力具有组织效应。性腺类固醇对视觉空间能力的激活效应在老年男性中最为显著，且是维持最佳视觉空间能力所必需的；随机临床试验表明，补充睾酮可改善表现。此外，老年男性性腺类固醇水平的下降可能导致与年龄相关的一般性认知衰退。未来针对男性的补充研究应尝试控制与视觉空间任务表现相关的构成能力，并研究剂量水平与基线性腺状态之间的相互作用。未来还需要进一步开展动物研究，以调查性腺类固醇水平的变化及其与神经递质系统、神经可塑性和行为相关性的关系。
