Putting the flight in “fight-or-flight”: Testosterone reactivity to skydiving is modulated by autonomic activation

Abstract

Sensation-seeking (SS) involves the tendency to pursue exciting activities, potentially including risky behaviors (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behavior). Testosterone is associated with cortisol, SS, and autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning. Testosterone reactivity/recovery during sky-diving and its relationship to cortisol response, ANS response and SS were examined. Forty-four participants provided reactive saliva samples and autonomic activity data before, during and after sky-diving and as well as basal day saliva samples. Testosterone reactivity/recovery to skydiving was significantly greater than basal day measurements. Testosterone re-sponsivity to skydiving was predicted by increased cortisol, increased sympathetic activity (heart rate) and reduced parasympathetic activity (RMSSD). Independent of physiological effects, increased SS predicted testosterone responsivity to skydiving. These data suggest that testosterone reactivity, and its relationship to ANS responsivity, may be associated with pleasurable responses to risky/ intense situations. These data may be useful in developing novel intervention strategies for risky behaviors.

Imbalance in the Blood Concentrations of Selected Steroids in Pre-pubertal Gilts Depending on the Time of Exposure to Low Doses of Zearalenone

“…In groups ZEN10 and ZEN15, E 2 and T levels were bound by negative (inversely proportional) correlations (moderate correlation in group ZEN10, absence of correlations in group ZEN15) on D1. On D3, negative correlations were noted in all groups, and the highest negative values (indicative of moderate correlations) were observed in groups ZEN5 and ZEN15, whereas weak correlations were noted in the groups ZEN10 and C. These findings contradict the results reported by Kanakis et al [34] and White et al [35] who argued that the concentration of E 2 in pre-pubertal gilts is influenced by the rate at which T is converted to E 2 . In pre-pubertal gilts, the levels of endogenous T do not compensate for physiological demand, and the resulting deficit is covered by “free ZEN” which changes the expression of enzymes such as HSDs [26].…”

“…Testosterone concentrations are characterized by significant diurnal variations [34]. They are also affected by the phase of the reproductive cycle as well as the strength and duration of exposure to stressors [35]. Testosterone regulates (i) sexual differentiation, (ii) muscle and bone mass, and (iii) erythropoietic and metabolic processes.…”

Testosterone reactivity and reward-related brain activation in social dominance

“…It is also possible that no sex differences in the relationship between acute testosterone change and reward processing activation exist. However, as we have previously argued (White, Lee, Phan, Moody, & Shirtcliff, 2019), testosterone reactivity is likely dependent on subjective experience of a context (e.g., challenging versus boring). Thus, the behavioral differences sometimes observed as a function of testosterone reactivity may be a function of sex differences in responses to the experimental context such as the video game competition (Carré, Campbell, Lozoya, Goetz, & Welker, 2013; rather than sex differences in the neurobiological underpinnings of testosterone reactivity.…”

“…Second, context is critical to understand the influence of hormones on behavior. As we have argued previously (White et al, 2019), how context is subjectively experienced is likely to be critically important in disentangling hormone-behavior relationships. Here, the fungible nature of money as a reward cue minimizes differences in the subjective experience of reward cues, and no sex differences are observed.…”