Linked Life Data

18633782

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18633782

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-7-17
pubmed:abstractText
Empathy involves an understanding of what others are thinking and feeling, and enables us to interact in the social world. According to the Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) theory, females on average have a stronger drive to empathize than males. This sex difference may in part reflect developmental differences in brain structure and function, which are themselves under the influence of fetal testosterone (fT). Previous studies have found that fT is inversely correlated with social behaviors such as eye contact in infancy, peer relationships in preschoolers, and mentalistic interpretation of animate motion. Male fetuses are exposed to higher levels of testosterone than are female fetuses. The present study investigates empathizing in children, as a function of amniotic measures of fT. One hundred ninety-three mothers of children (100 males, 93 females) aged 6-8 years of age completed children's versions of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-C), and the children themselves were tested on "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Task (Eyes-C). All mothers had had amniocentesis during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. There was a significant negative correlation between fT and scores on both measures. While empathy may be influenced by post-natal experience, these results suggest that pre-natal biology also plays an important role, mediated by androgen effects in the brain. These results also have implications for the causes of disabilities involving empathy, such as autism spectrum conditions, and may explain the increased rate of such conditions among males.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
1747-0927
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
1
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
135-48
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-12-11
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Fetal testosterone and empathy: evidence from the empathy quotient (EQ) and the "reading the mind in the eyes" test.
pubmed:affiliation
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. elc36@cam.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't