The evolutionary biology of testosterone: how it shapes male development and sex-based behavioral differences, | Carole Hooven, Ph.D.
12/1/20252 hr 5 min
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Carole Hooven is a human evolutionary biologist whose research centers on testosterone, sex differences, and behavior. In this episode, she explores how prenatal testosterone orchestrates male development in the body and brain, how early hormonal surges shape lifelong behavioral tendencies, and what rare natural experiments—such as 5-alpha-reductase deficiency—reveal about the biology of sex differentiation. She discusses distinct male and female aggression styles through an evolutionary lens, how modern environments inte...
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First 90 secondsPeter Attia· Host0:00
(heavy metal music) Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Drive podcast. I'm your host, Peter Attia. This podcast, my website, and my weekly newsletter all focus on the goal of translating the science of longevity into something accessible for everyone. Our goal is to provide the best content in health and wellness, and we've established a great team of analysts to make this happen. It is extremely important to me to provide all of this content without relying on paid ads. To do this, our work is made entirely possible by our members and in return, we offer exclusive member-only content and benefits above and beyond what is available for free. If you want to take your knowledge of this space to the next level, it's our goal to ensure members get back much more than the price of the subscription. If you want to learn more about the benefits of our premium membership, head over to peterattiamd.com/subscribe. My guest this week is Carole Hooven. Carole is a human evolutionary biologist, a former Harvard lecturer, and non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Her research focuses on testosterone, sex differences, and behavior. She holds a PhD in Biological Anthropology, now Human Evolutionary Biology, from Harvard University and is the author of T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates