Kung Karson T F, Browne Wendy V, Constantinescu Mihaela, Noorderhaven Rebecca M, Hines Melissa
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RQ, UK.
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RQ, UK.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016 Jun;68:111-6. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.03.001. Epub 2016 Mar 5.
During the first few years of life, girls typically have a larger expressive vocabulary than boys. This sex difference is important since a small vocabulary may predict subsequent language difficulties, which are more prevalent in boys than girls. The masculinizing effects of early androgen exposure on neurobehavioral development are well-documented in nonhuman mammals. The present study conducted the first test of whether early postnatal testosterone concentrations influence sex differences in expressive vocabulary in toddlers. It was found that testosterone measured in saliva samples collected at 1-3 months of age, i.e., during the period called mini-puberty, negatively predicted parent-report expressive vocabulary size at 18-30 months of age in boys and in girls. Testosterone concentrations during mini-puberty also accounted for additional variance in expressive vocabulary after other predictors such as sex, child's age at vocabulary assessment, and paternal education, were taken into account. Furthermore, testosterone concentrations during mini-puberty mediated the sex difference in expressive vocabulary. These results suggest that testosterone during the early postnatal period contributes to early language development and neurobehavioral sexual differentiation in humans.
在生命的最初几年，女孩通常比男孩拥有更大的表达性词汇量。这种性别差异很重要，因为词汇量小可能预示着随后出现语言困难，而男孩比女孩更普遍存在这种情况。早期雄激素暴露对非人类哺乳动物神经行为发育的男性化影响已有充分记录。本研究首次测试了出生后早期睾酮浓度是否会影响幼儿表达性词汇量的性别差异。研究发现，在1至3个月大时（即所谓的小青春期期间）采集的唾液样本中测得的睾酮，对18至30个月大男孩和女孩的家长报告的表达性词汇量大小有负向预测作用。在考虑了性别、词汇评估时孩子的年龄和父亲教育程度等其他预测因素后，小青春期期间的睾酮浓度也解释了表达性词汇量的额外差异。此外，小青春期期间的睾酮浓度介导了表达性词汇量的性别差异。这些结果表明，出生后早期的睾酮有助于人类早期语言发展和神经行为的性别分化。
