Professor Melissa Hines

University Position

Professor

Interests

I study gender development, and am particularly interested in how prenatal influences (e.g., gonadal hormones) interact with postnatal experience to shape brain development and behaviour. My current research programme includes studies of individuals with disorders of sex development (formerly called intersex conditions), as well as healthy individuals for whom we have measures of prenatal hormones. Behavioural outcomes of interest include gender identity, sexual orientation, aggression, empathy, mood, sex-typical interests in childhood (e.g., toy preferences) and adulthood, and clinical syndromes that show sex differences. I also study infants, so that we can identify sex differences as they emerge early in life and examine their relationship to prenatal hormones and postnatal socialiazation. In addition, I am interested in the neural and cognitive mechanisms related to behavioural changes in these areas, as well as in animal models of human behavior.

Key Publications

Publications

Androgens and child behavior: Color and toy preferences in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105310
Journal: Horm Behav
E-pub date: 1 Mar 2023
Authors: SAS Neufeld, ML Collaer, D Spencer, V Pasterski, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, C Acerini, M Hines

Prenatal androgen exposure and children’s gender-typed behavior and toy and playmate preferences.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104889
Journal: Horm Behav
E-pub date: 1 Jan 2021
Authors: D Spencer, V Pasterski, SAS Neufeld, V Glover, TG O'Connor, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, CL Acerini, M Hines

Emotional and behavioral adjustment in 4 to 11-year-old boys and girls with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia and unaffected siblings.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.07.004
Journal: Psychoneuroendocrinology
E-pub date: 1 Nov 2018
Authors: KTF Kung, D Spencer, V Pasterski, SAS Neufeld, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, CL Acerini, M Hines

Prenatal androgen exposure and children’s aggressive behavior and activity level.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.09.012
Journal: Horm Behav
E-pub date: 1 Nov 2017
Authors: D Spencer, V Pasterski, S Neufeld, V Glover, TG O'Connor, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, CL Acerini, M Hines

No relationship between prenatal androgen exposure and autistic traits: convergent evidence from studies of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia and of amniotic testosterone concentrations in typically developing children.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12602
Journal: J Child Psychol Psychiatry
E-pub date: 1 Dec 2016
Authors: KTF Kung, D Spencer, V Pasterski, S Neufeld, V Glover, TG O'Connor, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, CL Acerini, M Hines

Prenatal androgen exposure alters girls’ responses to information indicating gender-appropriate behaviour.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0125
Journal: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
E-pub date: 19 Feb 2016
Authors: M Hines, V Pasterski, D Spencer, S Neufeld, P Patalay, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, CL Acerini

Increased Cross-Gender Identification Independent of Gender Role Behavior in Girls with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: Results from a Standardized Assessment of 4- to 11-Year-Old Children.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0385-0
Journal: Arch Sex Behav
E-pub date: 1 Jul 2015
Authors: V Pasterski, KJ Zucker, PC Hindmarsh, IA Hughes, C Acerini, D Spencer, S Neufeld, M Hines

Working memory performance is reduced in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.11.014
Journal: Horm Behav
E-pub date: 1 Jan 2015
Authors: WV Browne, PC Hindmarsh, V Pasterski, IA Hughes, CL Acerini, D Spencer, S Neufeld, M Hines

Continuity in sex-typed behavior from preschool to adolescence: a longitudinal population study of boys and girls aged 3-13 years.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9784-7
Journal: Arch Sex Behav
E-pub date: 1 Jun 2012
Authors: S Golombok, J Rust, K Zervoulis, J Golding, M Hines

Fetal testosterone predicts sexually differentiated childhood behavior in girls and in boys.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02279.x
Journal: Psychol Sci
E-pub date: 1 Feb 2009
Authors: B Auyeung, S Baron-Cohen, E Ashwin, R Knickmeyer, K Taylor, G Hackett, M Hines

Developmental trajectories of sex-typed behavior in boys and girls: a longitudinal general population study of children aged 2.5-8 years.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01207.x
Journal: Child Dev
E-pub date: 1 Aug 2008
Authors: S Golombok, J Rust, K Zervoulis, T Croudace, J Golding, M Hines