Hormonal contributions to sexually dimorphic behavioral development in humans. 1991

J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405.

Nineteen studies on the behavioral effects of prenatal exposure to hormones administered for the treatment of at-risk human pregnancy are reviewed. Because the role of prenatal exposure to hormones in the development of human behavioral sex differences is potentially confounded by society's differential treatment of the sexes, comparisons between exposed and unexposed subjects were evaluated and summarized separately for male and female subjects. Therefore, this review focuses on data for individuals whose prenatal hormone environments were atypical relative to what is normal for their own sex. Overall, it appears that prenatal exposure to androgen-based synthetic progestin exerted a masculinizing and/or defeminizing influence on human behavioral development, whereas prenatal exposure to natural progesterone and progesterone-based synthetic progestin had a feminizing and/or demasculinizing influence, particularly among female subjects. The data on prenatal exposure to synthetic estrogen derive primarily from subjects exposed to diethylstibestrol (DES). DES-exposed male subjects appeared to be feminized and/or demasculinized, and there is some evidence that exposed female subjects were masculinized. These findings are discussed in the context of prenatal hormonal contributions to sexually dimorphic behavioral development both within and between the sexes. Recommendations for the conduct of future research in developmental behavioral endocrinology are presented.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001519 Behavior The observable response of a man or animal to a situation. Acceptance Process,Acceptance Processes,Behaviors,Process, Acceptance,Processes, Acceptance
D012727 Sex Characteristics Those characteristics that distinguish one SEX from the other. The primary sex characteristics are the OVARIES and TESTES and their related hormones. Secondary sex characteristics are those which are masculine or feminine but not directly related to reproduction. Gender Characteristics,Gender Differences,Gender Dimorphism,Sex Differences,Sex Dimorphism,Sexual Dichromatism,Sexual Dimorphism,Characteristic, Gender,Characteristic, Sex,Dichromatism, Sexual,Dichromatisms, Sexual,Difference, Sex,Dimorphism, Gender,Dimorphism, Sex,Dimorphism, Sexual,Gender Characteristic,Gender Difference,Gender Dimorphisms,Sex Characteristic,Sex Difference,Sex Dimorphisms,Sexual Dichromatisms,Sexual Dimorphisms
D012733 Sex Differentiation The process in developing sex- or gender-specific tissue, organ, or function after SEX DETERMINATION PROCESSES have set the sex of the GONADS. Major areas of sex differentiation occur in the reproductive tract (GENITALIA) and the brain. Differentiation, Sex,Sexual Differentiation,Differentiation, Sexual
D012739 Gonadal Steroid Hormones Steroid hormones produced by the GONADS. They stimulate reproductive organs, germ cell maturation, and the secondary sex characteristics in the males and the females. The major sex steroid hormones include ESTRADIOL; PROGESTERONE; and TESTOSTERONE. Gonadal Steroid Hormone,Sex Hormone,Sex Steroid Hormone,Sex Steroid Hormones,Sex Hormones,Hormone, Gonadal Steroid,Hormone, Sex,Hormone, Sex Steroid,Hormones, Gonadal Steroid,Hormones, Sex Steroid,Steroid Hormone, Gonadal,Steroid Hormone, Sex,Steroid Hormones, Gonadal,Steroid Hormones, Sex

Related Publications

J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
May 1997, Trends in cognitive sciences,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
March 2002, Environmental health perspectives,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
February 2014, Aging,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
March 2023, Nature genetics,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
March 2020, Behavioural brain research,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
April 2016, Molecular ecology,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
April 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
March 1990, Trends in neurosciences,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
March 1981, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
J M Reinisch, and M Ziemba-Davis, and S A Sanders
October 2010, The Journal of experimental biology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!