Testosterone levels affect linguistic abilities 2007-07-12

Research highlights the impact of hormones on language

Victor Boucher and Charles Lamoureux.

Research has shown that women are better than men at games involving letters and words such as Scrabble. Women usually have a broader vocabulary than men, and speech development problems usually affect men three times as often.

Charles Lamoureux, soon-to-be PhD graduate of the Department of linguistics and translation, measured for the first time the impact of testosterone levels on linguistic and speech functions. The research was conducted under the supervision of Victor Boucher, and the results were presented at the ACFAS congress last May.

The first exercise consisted of asking 20 male subjects to list as many words as possible starting with the letter R in 60 seconds. The exercise was then repeated with the letter L. Testosterone levels were measured using saliva samples. Results indicated that the higher the level of testosterone the lower the number of words listed.

“The individual with the highest level of testosterone listed 18 words, while the one with the lowest level of testosterone listed 31 words,” explains Charles Lamoureux. The proposed explanation is that testosterone reduces the speed of lexical access. “It is possible that men have as broad a vocabulary as women, but that they have a harder time accessing it.”

To support his hypothesis the student cites research, which indicates that transsexuals who went from women to men often had difficulty with language following the testosterone treatments.

Both Lamoureux and Boucher consider an evolution aspect to the theory as well. According to the theory, masculine skills favored by evolution such as hunting required less vocabulary, while women who were left in charge of the children, required stronger communication abilities. In fact, a broad vocabulary could have been to the detriment of males in a hunting context who needed to react quickly and precisely.

http://www.exduco.net/news.php?id=1916

ALL,

Perhaps a better test would be to take a sample of men and women who speak English as their native toungue and have them learn, say, Arabic.

See who can learn this language better.

Regards,

I think that study is just plain BS. None of my real world experiences suggest that Testosterone has anything to do with linguistic ability. It sounds like someone is trying to bend the facts to fit their pet theory.

You might as well say that all blondes are dumb.

Kangan (imported) wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:11 pm I think that study is just plain BS. None of my real world experiences suggest that Testosterone has anything to do with linguistic ability. It sounds like someone is trying to bend the facts to fit their pet theory.

You might as well say that all blondes are dumb.

You might want to consider that gay men, like women, are typically good with languages and accents. I believe that having more connections between both hemispheres of the brain enables gay men to do better at things like foreign languages, music and the arts that require the use of both hemispheres. Straight men and lesbians have more connections within one hemisphere of the brain, so they tend to be better at things like carpentry, math, engineering, car repair, sports and police work, though there are gay men present in all fields. I'm not convinced testosterone alone has anything to do with language ability, but brain structure combined with higher testosterone levels may, so it could be that those with higher testosterone also have fewer connections between hemispheres.

NEW ORLEANS — Treating older men with testosterone may help improve spatial and verbal memory, according to a small study conducted at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The preliminary results were presented today by Dr. Monique Cherrier during the 1998 Endocrine Society meeting in New Orleans. Cherrier is an acting instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a psychologist with the Geriatric Research Clinical Center at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

Men’s testosterone levels naturally decrease with age. As research has linked estrogen decline and memory loss in women, researchers sought to examine whether declining testosterone affected men’s cognitive abilities.

Researchers examined the effects of testosterone therapy in 11 men ranging in age from 52 to 79. Participants were randomly assigned to an active or placebo group and received weekly injections. Those in the active group received 100 mg of testosterone enanthate, a dose that brought their circulating hormone levels up to the range of healthy young men.

Prior to the start of treatment and twice during treatment participants were given a battery of tests to measure memory abilities. These included testing spatial memory by having participants memorize a walking route through a maze and testing verbal memory by having participants listen to and recall a list of words. Other tests measured attention and language memory.

“Men receiving testosterone treatment experienced significant improvements in verbal and spatial memory compared to those in the control group,” Cherrier said. No improvements were noted in areas of language or attention.

“Just as declines in estrogen have been shown to affect memory in women, decreasing testosterone levels may affect men,” Cherrier noted. “Understanding the linkage between thinking abilities and hormones is important and these preliminary results raise some interesting questions about using testosterone as treatment for memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.”

* * *

Julie Rathbun

Can testosterone improve memory in men? Study provides initial findings

https://www.washington.edu/news/1998/06 ... -findings/

I seem to recall (perhaps my memory is slipping? ) mention of 'cognitive issues' as one of the potential side effects of castration mentioned in the primer articles here on EA.... Sounds like these studies are sort of different angles on the same idea?

WheelyCurious

Eunuchist (imported) wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:20 pm Testosterone levels affect linguistic abilities 2007-07-12

Research highlights the impact of hormones on language

Victor Boucher and Charles Lamoureux.

Research has shown that women are better than men at games involving letters and words such as Scrabble. Women usually have a broader vocabulary than men, and speech development problems usually affect men three times as often.

Charles Lamoureux, soon-to-be PhD graduate of the Department of linguistics and translation, measured for the first time the impact of testosterone levels on linguistic and speech functions. The research was conducted under the supervision of Victor Boucher, and the results were presented at the ACFAS congress last May.

The first exercise consisted of asking 20 male subjects to list as many words as possible starting with the letter R in 60 seconds. The exercise was then repeated with the letter L. Testosterone levels were measured using saliva samples. Results indicated that the higher the level of testosterone the lower the number of words listed.

“The individual with the highest level of testosterone listed 18 words, while the one with the lowest level of testosterone listed 31 words,” explains Charles Lamoureux. The proposed explanation is that testosterone reduces the speed of lexical access. “It is possible that men have as broad a vocabulary as women, but that they have a harder time accessing it.”

To support his hypothesis the student cites research, which indicates that transsexuals who went from women to men often had difficulty with language following the testosterone treatments.

Both Lamoureux and Boucher consider an evolution aspect to the theory as well. According to the theory, masculine skills favored by evolution such as hunting required less vocabulary, while women who were left in charge of the children, required stronger communication abilities. In fact, a broad vocabulary could have been to the detriment of males in a hunting context who needed to react quickly and precisely.

http://www.exduco.net/news.php?id=1916

I find this so amazing. I want to hear more. of course it makes me think of myself. that I love writing poetry and persist in finding just the right words. there are times I even invent words. but words don't necessarily come to mind when I need them. being / having been male this may be in accord with what this study is about. so I spend much time searching thesauri and eventually find them. I then study them until I am sure I understand the meaning and usage and try to determine how much liberty I can take in using them in my writing. I'm certain I have always used found words in accord with their origins, usage and the liberties I've chosen to take. but ask me a month later what the word means, I don't know. I have to do the work all over again but to my delight I come up with the same conclusion. this too seems to be in accord with the study.

I've been non male now for 5 months yet with no female hormones. I don't think I see a change except for the last poem I wrote that may utilize words somewhat differently.

I've found that sometimes while trying to communicate with a male with high testosterone that rather than trying to speak in a full phrase it's better boil the concept down into one or two words and then just blurt that out and hope they might think.

devi (imported) wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:35 am I've found that sometimes while trying to communicate with a male with high testosterone that rather than trying to speak in a full phrase it's better boil the concept down into one or two words and then just blurt that out and hope they might think.

By the way, many women have a similar lack of communication, although, presumably, they do not have testosterone?