“…When the children were followed-up after birth, those children with higher levels of foetal testosterone had lower rates of eye contact and were slower to develop language, as toddlers. In primary school they had more social difficulties and reduced empathy, and they also had stronger interests in systemizing…These studies looked at individual differences in otherwise typically developing children. We cannot yet conclude that elevated rates of foetal testosterone cause autism or Asperger syndrome, as the children in these studies do not have a diagnosis. It is of interest that using the Child AQ (Autism Spectrum Quotient)…completed by the mother, those children with higher levels of foetal testosterone also had a higher score on the AQ (more autistic traits). But the test of the foetal androgen theory will come when large enough samples of amniotic fluid are available, with follow-up data relating to actual diagnosis.” [p. 95] (Baron-Cohen, S. (2008). Autism and Asperger syndrome: The facts. New York: Oxford University Press.)
Geschwind and Galaburda (1987) hypothesized that testosterone influenced cerebral lateralization, handedness and a number of diseases and conditions including autism. Baron-Cohen and colleagues have discovered what seems like direct connections between a mother’s testosterone levels and autism and Aspergers. A question is, is estrogen influential in this mix?
If estrogen levels impact the timing of puberty, influening testosterone surges, does estrogen impact the timing of infant synapse pruning that comes from testosterone surges. That pruning may have a lot to do with handedness and cerebral lateralization. Lateralization seems related to autism with 20% of children with autism displaying brains at the 95 percentile with right hemispheres that seemed not to have ever been pruned by testosterone surges.
