Sex differences in visuospatial abilities persist during induced XXXX .

@entity1 @entity251 @entity146 @entity53 @entity1176 @entity6126 @entity717 @entity479
BACKGROUND: Despite well-established sex differences in the performance on tests of several cognitive domains (e.g., visuospatial ability), few studies in @entity1 have evaluated if these sex differences are evident both in the presence of circulating sex hormones and during sex @entity479 hormonal suppression. Sex differences identified in the relative absence of circulating levels of @entity53 and @entity251 suggest that differences in brain structure or function exist independent of current hormonal environment and are more likely a reflection of differing developmental exposures and/or genetic substrates. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cognitive performance in healthy eugonadal @entity1 and @entity1 before and again during @entity1176 agonist-induced @entity6126 . METHODS: @entity1 (n=16) and @entity1 (n=15) without medical or @entity146 were matched for IQ. Cognitive tests were performed at baseline (when eugonadal) and after 6-8 weeks of GnRH agonist-induced gonadal suppression. The test batteries included measures of verbal and spatial memory, spatial ability, verbal fluency, motor speed/dexterity, and attention/concentration. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures models. RESULTS: During both eugonadism and @entity6126 , @entity1 performed significantly better than @entity1 on several measures of visuospatial performance including @entity717 , line orientation, Money Road Map, Porteus maze, and complex figure drawing. Although some test performances showed an effect of hormone treatment, the majority of these differences reflected an improved performance during @entity6126 compared with baseline (and probably reflected practice effects). CONCLUSION: The well-documented male advantage in visuospatial performance, which we observed during eugonadal conditions, was maintained in the context of short-term suppression of gonadal function in both @entity1 and @entity1 . These findings suggest that, in @entity1 , sex differences in visuospatial performance are not merely dependent on differences in the current circulating sex @entity479 environment. Thus sex differences in visuospatial performance in adulthood could reflect early developmental effects of sex @entity479 exposure or other environmental exposures differing across the sexes as our data confirm that these differences are independent of circulating @entity53 or @entity251 levels in @entity1 and @entity1 .
