Testosterone leading to more autism?

Foetal testosterone linked to autistic traits:

This latest update on their progress, presented by Simon Baron-Cohen and Bonnie Auyeung at the British Association's Festival of Science in York today, shows that the correlation between foetal hormone levels and autistic-trait behaviour continues as the children grow up.

...Baby boys produce more testosterone in the womb, which means they can also expose a non-identical female twin to higher levels of the hormone. But other genetic and environmental factors are thought to also play a role.

This is of course part of Simon Baron-Cohen's research program on empathizers and systemizers....

Tags

More like this

I have the soul of a stamp collector. Some might object that it's an unusually loud and psychedelic stamp collector, but I think it's so. It shows in my research (data-heavy, fussing over terminological definitions, with a lot of statistics), in my attacks on nebulous jargon and muddled…
Pseudoscience is effective. If it weren't, people wouldn't generate so much of it to try to justify opinions not supported by the bulk of the evidence. It's effective because people trust science as a method of understanding the world, and ideological actors want that trust conferred to their…
This excellent article in the Chicago Tribune documents the abuses of science by quacks. Legitimate researchers identify certain properties of autism — markers for inflammation in the brain, for instance, or correlations with testosterone — and write up papers that even go out of their way to…
Imagine that there is a trait observed among people that seems to occur more frequently in some families and not others. One might suspect that the trait is inherited genetically. Imagine researchers looking for the genetic underpinning of this trait and at first, not finding it. What might you…

Who cares what Borat thinks?

By John Emerson (not verified) on 11 Sep 2007 #permalink

sir,

i believe you are mistaken in your identification. you have confused the mental scientist, simon baron-cohen, with the vulgar comedian sascha baron-cohen. true, the resemblances of nature and physique are striking, but distinct individuals they are nevertheless.

best
c.v. snicker

sir,

subsequent to the utilization of the google search engine i have come to understand the nature of the question you posed. i shall take the liberty of operating under the assumption that no offense shall be taken on your part, sir, if i do not dignify your inquiry with a response? finally, may i add that i am resisting the temptation to upbraid you justly for the uncouthness of your implication? a gentleman you are not and i must gather never were!

sincerely,
c.v. snicker

...something about sticks and stones and bones and names come to my chet. but peace. thanks for enlightening john.

Well, we know he's wrong because the two extremes of his continuum aren't logical opposites. I suspect it's more a matter of inappropriate naming than a true failure of theory.

By Caledonian (not verified) on 11 Sep 2007 #permalink