Neurológia pre prax 6/2010
Role of testosterone in the etiology of autism – the hypothesis of a hypermale brain
Autism is a complex pervasive developmental disorder with early childhood onset characterized by social deficits, impaired communication and stereotyped behaviour. The disorder has increasing prevalence, enormous variability of symptoms and unknown etiology. Generally the disorder is diagnosed four times more often in boys than in girls and this provokes theories relating autism to testosterone effect. The theory of hypermale brain considers disturbed neurodevelopment with consequent structural brain anomalies and atypical development of brain hemispheres leading to autistic phenotype.
Keywords: autism, hypermale brain, laterality, testosterone.
