| Title |
Opposite Effects of Androgen Receptor CAG Repeat Length on Increased Risk of Left-Handedness in Males and Females
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Behavior Genetics, November 2005
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10519-005-6187-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Sarah E. Medland, David L. Duffy, Amanda B. Spurdle, Margaret J. Wright, Gina M. Geffen, Grant W. Montgomery, Nicholas G. Martin |
| Abstract |
Prenatal exposure to testosterone has been hypothesised to effect lateralization by influencing cell death in the foetal brain. Testosterone binds to the X chromosome linked androgen receptor, which contains a polymorphic polyglutamine CAG repeat, the length of which is positively correlated with testosterone levels in males, and negatively correlated in females. To determine whether the length of the androgen receptor mediates the effects of testosterone on laterality, we examined the association between the number of CAG repeats in the androgen receptor gene and handedness for writing. Association was tested by adding regression terms for the length of the androgen receptor alleles to a multi-factorial-threshold model of liability to left-handedness. In females we found the risk of left-handedness was greater in those with a greater number of repeats (p=0.04), this finding was replicated in a second independent sample of female twins (p=0.014). The length of the androgen receptor explained 6% of the total variance and 24% of the genetic variance in females. In males the risk of left-handedness was greater in those with fewer repeats (p=0.02), with variation in receptor length explaining 10% of the total variance and 24% of the genetic variance. Thus, consistent with Witelson's theory of testosterone action, in all three samples the likelihood of left handedness increased in those individuals with variants of the androgen receptor associated with lower testosterone levels. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 55 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 4% |
| Ireland | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 52 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 13% |
| Researcher | 7 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 5 | 9% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 13 | 24% |
| Unknown | 13 | 24% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 14 | 25% |
| Psychology | 10 | 18% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 7 | 13% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 6 | 11% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 2 | 4% |
| Unknown | 15 | 27% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 February 2017.
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#15,317,437
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Outputs from Behavior Genetics
#646
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Outputs of similar age
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Outputs of similar age from Behavior Genetics
#6
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