Testosterone and Nonverbal Intelligence in Right-Handed Men With Successful and Unsuccessful Educational Levels

The relationship between serum total testosterone (T) concentration and fluid intelligence (nonverbal, spatial) was studied in consistently right-handed men with successful (S) or unsuccessful educational levels (NS). Hand preference was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Nonverbal inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of neuroscience Vol. 111; no. 1-2; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors:	Kutlu, Necip, Ekerbicer, Nuran, Ari, Zeki, Uyanik, Bekir Sami, Zeren, Taner, Tan, Uner
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Informa UK Ltd 2001 Taylor & Francis
Subjects:	Adult Behavioral psychophysiology Biological and medical sciences Biomarkers - blood cognition Educational Status Functional Laterality Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Hormones and behavior Humans intelligence Intelligence - physiology Intelligence Tests Male men Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychology. Psychophysiology Reference Values Space Perception - physiology Statistics as Topic success testosterone Testosterone - blood Testosterone - physiology Human Testosterone Culture Fair Intelligence Test Cattell Androgen Investigation method Education level Problem solving Cognition Testicular hormone Sex steroid hormone Comparative study Intelligence quotient
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Summary:	The relationship between serum total testosterone (T) concentration and fluid intelligence (nonverbal, spatial) was studied in consistently right-handed men with successful (S) or unsuccessful educational levels (NS). Hand preference was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Nonverbal intelligence was measured by Cartell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test. Serum T level was determined using chemiluminescence en-zvme-immunoassav on hormone autoanalyzer. There was no significant difference between the mean T levels of the S subjects and NS subjects, although S-men tended to have higher T levels than NS-men. The mean IQ was found to be significantly higher in S-men than NS-men. In the total sample (S + NS men), the correlation between T to IQ was best described by a polynomial regression (3rd order), exhibiting an inverse U-shaped regression. In S-men, the relationship between T and IQ was best described by a polynomial regression equation of the 3rd order: however, the relationship was not U-shaped, but rather a positive correlation (low T: low IQ and high T high IQ). In NS-men. there was an inverse U-shaped correlation between T and IQ (low and very high T: low IQ and moderate T: high IQ). The present data suggest that (i) very low and very high serum T concentrations may be disadvantageous, (ii) moderate T levels may be advantageous for general fluid intelligence, and (iii) a prewired cerebral organization may be essential for the T effects on cognitive abilities.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0020-7454 1563-5279 1543-5245
DOI:	10.3109/00207450108986548