Sex on the Brain

Simon Baron-Cohen, one of the authors of Prenatal Testosterone in Mind, was featured on a fascinating BBC series called "Secrets of the Sexes." He was interviewed regarding the effects of the very potent hormone testosterone on the prenatal brain. It turns out that there is a link between a baby’s exposure to testosterone in the womb and his or her tendency to make eye contact in the first year. Baron-Cohen's lab also looks at the relationship between prenatal testosterone and other postnatal developmental behaviors such as autism and language acquisition.

The "Secret of the Sexes" website is engaging and full of short psychology tests like "Spot the Fake Smile" that are fun to take. Oh, by the way, Simon Baron-Cohen is not only a professor of developmental psychopathology, he is also related to Sacha Baron-Cohen. You know, Ali G.

Comments

[Jon Haeber]

This is an intriguing postulation made by Baron-Cohen and "Secret of the Sexes." I have read this before on another blog, which is referenced in the URL portion of this comment. The psychology tests you mention, though I'm sure they have their own merit, are probably much too short to get any representative results. I highly recommend taking the EQ/SQ personality tests, formulated by Baron-Cohen, which fully determine an individual's propensity to be emotional or systematic.

It's a fascinating subject. I wish I had known about the BBC series before-hand.