Salivary testosterone levels in left- and right-handed adults.
It has been proposed that prenatal testosterone (T) may contribute to the development of hand preference and cerebral functional asymmetry in humans. To investigate any persisting association between T and asymmetry in adulthood, left-handed (LH) and right-handed (RH) men and women were administered a hand preference questionnaire and the Fused Dichotic Words Test. Testosterone was measured in samples of saliva. Results showed that LH subjects of both sexes had lower salivary T concentrations than their RH counterparts. Among LH males, subjects with a right-ear advantage in dichotic listening tended to have lower T concentrations than subjects with a left-ear advantage. These results are consistent with the notion that T may be involved in the development of hand preference and cerebral functional asymmetry.
Moffat
S D
SD
University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Hampson
E
E
D000328:Adult; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*
D013739:Testosterone