Wed, Feb. 9, 2011 (HealthDay News) -- Testosterone interferes with a person's ability to read another person's eye expressions in order to deduce what they're feeling, says a new study.It included 16 young women who were given testosterone under the tongue and asked to look at photographs of facial expressions from around the eyes in order to determine what the person is thinking or feeling, United Press International reported.
The administration of testosterone led to a significant reduction in the women's ability to do this type of mind reading, said the British and Dutch researchers.
They said the finding may help explain why men are generally worse at reading feelings than women, who have lower testosterone levels. The researchers also noted that autism affects males more than females, and these results offer further support for the theory that male sex hormones play a role in autism, UPI reported.
The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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