Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Physiol Res. 2020 Dec 31;69(Suppl 3):S403-S419. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.934592.
Sex and gender matter in all aspects of life. Humans exhibit sexual dimorphism in anatomy, physiology, but also pathology. Many of the differences are due to sex chromosomes and, thus, genetics, other due to endocrine factors such as sex hormones, some are of social origin. Over the past decades, huge number of scientific studies have revealed striking sex differences of the human brain with remarkable behavioral and cognitive consequences. Prenatal and postnatal testosterone influence brain structures and functions, respectively. Cognitive sex differences include especially certain spatial and language tasks, but they also affect many other aspects of the neurotypical brain. Sex differences of the brain are also relevant for the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorders, which are much more prevalent in the male population. Structural dimorphism in the human brain was well-described, but recent controversies now question its importance. On the other hand, solid evidence exists regarding gender differences in several brain functions. This review tries to summarize the current understanding of the complexity of the effects of testosterone on brain with special focus on their role in the known sex differences in healthy individuals and people in the autism spectrum.
性别在生活的各个方面都很重要。人类在解剖学、生理学上表现出性别差异，但也表现在病理学上。许多差异是由于性染色体和遗传，其他的是由于内分泌因素，如性激素，还有一些是社会起源的。在过去的几十年里，大量的科学研究揭示了人类大脑惊人的性别差异，这些差异具有显著的行为和认知后果。胎儿期和出生后的睾酮分别影响大脑结构和功能。认知性别差异包括某些特定的空间和语言任务，但它们也影响神经典型大脑的许多其他方面。大脑的性别差异也与神经精神障碍的发病机制有关，如自闭症谱系障碍，男性发病率明显更高。人类大脑的结构性二态性已有很好的描述，但最近的争议现在质疑其重要性。另一方面，关于几种大脑功能的性别差异存在确凿的证据。这篇综述试图总结目前对睾酮对大脑影响的复杂性的理解，特别关注其在健康个体和自闭症谱系个体中已知性别差异中的作用。
