Christiansen K
Institute of Human Biology, University of Hamburg, FRG.
Neuropsychobiology. 1993;27(2):97-107. doi: 10.1159/000118961.
The relation of circulating sex hormones and cognitive abilities was investigated in 114 healthy !Kung San men ('bushmen') of Namibia/Southern Africa who lived mainly as traditional hunter-gatherers. Blood and saliva samples were analysed by use of radioimmunoassays in order to determine the serum concentrations of total testosterone (Tser), 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and estradiol (E2), as well as the level of bioavailable, non-SHBG-bound 'free' testosterone in the saliva. The cognitive ability was assessed with two verbal (verbal fluency) and three nonverbal tests (tactual-spatial functioning, field independence/field dependence). As to be expected from previous research on Western samples, all three androgens but not E2 are of significance to the !Kung San men's cognitive performance. Tser exhibits a positive relation to tactual-spatial abilities and to the degree of lateralization of this task; on the other hand, Tser is negatively correlated with verbal fluency. Testosterone in the saliva is also significantly positively correlated to tactual-spatial test scores and, in addition, to field independence. DHT and the ratio DHT/Tser are positively related to verbal fluency and negatively to the degree of lateralization of tactual-spatial performance.
在纳米比亚/南部非洲的114名健康的!Kung San男性（“布须曼人”）中，研究了循环性激素与认知能力之间的关系。这些男性主要以传统狩猎采集者的方式生活。通过放射免疫分析法对血液和唾液样本进行分析，以确定血清中总睾酮（Tser）、5α-二氢睾酮（DHT）和雌二醇（E2）的浓度，以及唾液中生物可利用的、非性激素结合球蛋白（SHBG）结合的“游离”睾酮水平。认知能力通过两项语言测试（语言流畅性）和三项非语言测试（触觉空间功能、场独立性/场依存性）进行评估。正如之前对西方样本的研究所预期的那样，所有三种雄激素而非E2对!Kung San男性的认知表现具有重要意义。Tser与触觉空间能力以及该任务的偏侧化程度呈正相关；另一方面，Tser与语言流畅性呈负相关。唾液中的睾酮也与触觉空间测试分数以及场独立性显著正相关。DHT以及DHT/Tser的比值与语言流畅性呈正相关，与触觉空间表现的偏侧化程度呈负相关。
