Research Activities in the Hampson Lab

We study the effects of reproductive and adrenal hormones in the nervous system. In particular, we study how hormones can influence behaviour and cognition. These influences are exerted during the early developmental period, often prenatally, and in post-pubertal adults. A particular focus of our work is to understand how hormones influence the expression of high-level cognitive functions, such as spatial functions or memory. We try to identify functions that can be modified by hormones and to define the endocrine principles that govern how, when, and why these psychological effects come about. Our research ranges from studies of normal healthy individuals, to people with endocrine conditions, to people taking hormones exogenously (e.g. estrogen replacement therapy). The techniques we use to uncover hormone-brain relationships include behavioural observations (e.g. video analysis, speech sampling), computer-based or conventional paper-and-pencil measures of cognitive function, neuropsychological testing, or for structural studies, magnetic resonance imaging. An on-site immunoassay lab allows us to directly quantify steroid hormone levels in our research.

Past and Present Research Interests
 

• Sexual differentiation of the human central nervous system
• Intellectual and behavioral development in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
• Effects of anabolic steroids on cognitive functioning in boys with delayed puberty
• Role of prenatal and early postnatal androgens in human brain organization
• Cognitive function in conditions of androgen excess or androgen deprivation
• Intersex conditions, especially CAH and androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS)
• CNS effects of estrogens in adult women
• Cognitive, motor, and affective changes associated with the menstrual cycle
• CNS effects of oral contraceptives
• Effects of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on memory and frontal lobe functions
• Effects of sex steroids on phonological and other reading-related processes
• Biological rhythms in steroid hormone secretion and their implications for CNS function