How Cortisol Shapes Intelligence in Boys Vs. Girls?

Research shows gender-specific impacts of elevated cortisol levels in the third trimester of pregnancy on fetal development.

Elevated cortisol levels during the third-trimester correlate with lower IQ scores in 7-year-old boys, while higher urine cortisone levels are associated with improved scores in girls, emphasizing the distinct impact of cortisol on fetal development in boys and girls as per research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology ().

Prenatal exposure to cortisol — a steroid hormone that helps the body respond to stress — is needed for fetal development and is thought to affect cognitive function in children later in life.

Top 10 Ways to De-stress Your Mind
Chronic stress is bad for physical and mental health. Get best tips on how to de-stress and get on the path to live a healthy and balanced life.

‘Did You Know?
Stress doesn't just affect adults. Studies have shown that stress levels among children and teenagers are on the rise, leading to concerns about long-term health effects. #stress #cortisol #pregnancy #intelligence’

During pregnancy, the levels of cortisol increase, and pregnant women carrying girls generally secrete more cortisol than those with boys.

However, in the placenta, the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) regulates the amount of cortisol that reaches the fetus by converting cortisol to its inactive form known as cortisone.

Role of Cortisol in Fetal Growth

Researchers from the Odense University Hospital in Denmark have previously shown that children between the ages of one and three have more advanced speech and language skills when their mothers have high levels of cortisol during their third trimester.

Top 10 Drinks to Relieve Stress
Top ten stress reliever drinks to combat stress, anxiety and insomnia. With stress levels at an all time high, more people are turning to safer and more natural solutions. Find back to nature drinks listed here.

Now, in this study, the researchers analyzed data on the cortisol and cortisone levels of 943 pregnant women during the third trimester and on the IQ tests of their 943 children aged 7 years old, from the Odense Child Cohort.

They found that pregnant women carrying a boy had lower cortisol levels circulating in their blood than those women carrying a girl.

Tension Headache
Tension headache or Stress Headache is the most common type of headache that occurs at any age, and is characterized by pain in head, scalp and neck along with muscle stiffness.

In addition, boys exposed to higher cortisol levels in the womb scored lower on IQ tests at age 7. Girls the same age scored better on IQ tests when their mothers had higher levels of urine cortisone.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the association between urine cortisone levels during pregnancy and IQ scores in children,” said lead author, Dr Anja Fenger Dreyer.

Techniques for Stress Relief
Stress is a part of everyday lives. It can be beneficial to an extent, but when it disrupts the equilibrium in which our nervous system is capable of performing better, it becomes troublesome.

“While other studies have only looked at cortisol circulating in the blood during pregnancy and child IQ, we are the first to look at urine samples as well as blood samples and to investigate boys and girls separately.”

Dr Fenger Dreyer added: “Our results show that girls may be more protected by the activity of placental 11β-HSD2, whereas boys may be more vulnerable to prenatal exposure of maternal physiological cortisol.”

“Although our previous study showed prenatal cortisol exposure was positively associated with language development, in this study prenatal cortisol exposure — ‘directly’ by serum cortisol and ‘indirectly’ by urine cortisone — is negatively associated with IQ scores,” continued Dr Fenger Dreyer.

“This may mean that the high levels of prenatal cortisol exposure might have a temporary effect on a child’s cognitive development. It should also be noted that the vocabulary in toddlers was reported by parents in our previous study, while child IQ in this study was assessed by trained psychologists.”

Reference:

26th European Congress of Endocrinology - (https://www.medizin.uni-muenster.de/en/male-germ-cells/termindetails/26th-european-congress-of-endocrinology-2024.html#:~:text=We%20are%20pleased%20to%20announce,as%20virtual%20via%20ECE%40Home.)

Source-Eurekalert