Testosterone Increases Amygdala Reactivity in Middle-Aged Women to a Young Adulthood Level

Wingen, Guido A. van; Zylicz, Staś A; Pieters, Sara; Mattern, Claudia; Verkes, Robbert J.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Fernández, Guillén

doi:10.1038/sj.npp.2008.2

Cited by 26 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 60 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Neuroimaging studies have associated elevated testosterone with exaggerated blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses in amygdala (43)(44)(45) and decreased amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) coupling during processing of angry and fearful facial expressions (46,47), with these mechanisms being suggested to mediate recruitment of aggressive behavior by testosterone in response to such threatening social stimuli (48). One interesting question for future research is whether this pathway may also mediate the prosocial effects of testosterone that we observed given that the roles of amygdala and OFC in regulating social behavior are not limited to aggression (49,50).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testosterone causes both prosocial and antisocial status-enhancing behaviors in human males

Dreher

Dunne

Pazderska

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

147

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although popular discussion of testosterone's influence on males often centers on aggression and antisocial behavior, contemporary theorists have proposed that it instead enhances behaviors involved in obtaining and maintaining a high social status. Two central distinguishing but untested predictions of this theory are that testosterone selectively increases status-relevant aggressive behaviors, such as responses to provocation, but that it also promotes nonaggressive behaviors, such as generosity toward others, when they are appropriate for increasing status. Here, we tested these hypotheses in healthy young males by injecting testosterone enanthate or a placebo in a double-blind, between-subjects, randomized design (n = 40). Participants played a version of the Ultimatum Game that was modified so that, having accepted or rejected an offer from the proposer, participants then had the opportunity to punish or reward the proposer at a proportionate cost to themselves. We found that participants treated with testosterone were more likely to punish the proposer and that higher testosterone levels were specifically associated with increased punishment of proposers who made unfair offers, indicating that testosterone indeed potentiates aggressive responses to provocation. Furthermore, when participants administered testosterone received large offers, they were more likely to reward the proposer and also chose rewards of greater magnitude. This increased generosity in the absence of provocation indicates that testosterone can also cause prosocial behaviors that are appropriate for increasing status. These findings are inconsistent with a simple relationship between testosterone and aggression and provide causal evidence for a more complex role for testosterone in driving status-enhancing behaviors in males.testosterone | aggression | generosity | human males | social status

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testosterone causes both prosocial and antisocial status-enhancing behaviors in human males

Dreher

Dunne

Pazderska

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

147

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…During the past decade, pharmacological challenge studies indicate that a single dose of [11,12]; (2) these subcortical brain structures are rich in both androgen and estrogen receptors [30,31,32]; and (3) these regions play a key role in potentiating reactive aggression in animals [33]. Studies outside the scanner have also yielded interesting effects of testosterone on social cognition and behavior.…”

Section: Pharmacological Challenge Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, there is evidence that levels of aggression do not increase at puberty in humans coincidental with rising testosterone levels [7]. Third, several controlled trials of the impact of long-term injections of testosterone on mood and behavior have produced null results overall [5*: Table 2], although studies of the short-term oral administration of testosterone to women show a range of changes, including features associated with aggression [e.g., 8,9,10], and with greater activity in brain regions associated with aggression [11,12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testosterone and human behavior: the role of individual and contextual variables

Carré

Archer

2018

Current Opinion in Psychology

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study of testosterone and aggression originated in experimental studies of animals, showing a direct causal link in some species. Human studies showed an overall weak correlation between testosterone and aggression. A theoretical framework ("the challenge hypothesis") enabled testosterone-behavior interactions in humans to be framed within a theory that emphasized hormonal responses to competition influencing subsequent aggressive behavior. The short-term administrations of testosterone to young women and to young men showed influences on behavioral and neural processes associated with aggression. Other findings are that testosterone influences aggression in high dominance men, and in those with low cortisol levels; and that testosterone can affect both aggressive and prosocial behavior, within the context of an experimental game.

show abstract

“…The study by van Wingen et al (2008) is based on animal studies that testosterone regulates activity in the amygdala of male and female rodents. They report that there is an age-related decline in serum testosterone as well as in amygdala reactivity in women.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective: Sex Matters: Gonadal Steroids and the Brain

Young

Becker

2009

Neuropsychopharmacol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sex matters to every cell of the body and thus gonadal steroids have the capability of affecting numerous behaviors and neurotransmitters. Several reports in this issue highlight the importance of gonadal steroids: estradiol and progesterone modulate the serotonin transporter in rodents changes in D2 receptors across the menstrual cycle in female cynomolgus monkeys testosterone influences amygdala reactivity in women and temporary suppression of gonadal steroids influences sexual in both men and women. This body of work challenges all of neuropsychopharmacology to consider the importance of sex and gonadal steroids in future studies. Neuropsychopharmacology (2009) 34, 537-538; doi:10.1038/npp.2008 Sex matters to every cell of the body (Wizemann and Pardue, 2001). Despite this conclusion by the IOM, the area of sex and gonadal hormones is frequently ignored in the field of neuropsychopharmacology and other basic biomedical fields. This is to a large extent because of the difficulty of parsing the roles of chromosomal sex, gonadal sex, and gonadal steroid hormones (Becker et al, 2005). Nevertheless, these are factors that are increasingly important to address, as evidenced by the articles in this issue of Neuropsychopharmacology. In this issue of Neuropsychopharmacology the importance of sex/gender differences in the brain as well as the effects of steroid hormones on brain function are examined from the perspective of psychiatric disorders, the neurological basis of sexual behavior and neurotransmitter receptor/ transporter function.Depression is more common in women, and women appear to respond better to SSRIs than men (Kornstein et al, 2000;Young et al, 2008). In addition, SSRIs are an excellent treatment for premenstrual dysphoria disorder. Thus, the report by Benmansour et al (2008) demonstrating a sex specific effect of estradiol and progesterone on function of the serotonin transporter is quite important. However, the effect is the opposite of what would be predicted from the clinical literature, further underscoring the complexity of understanding the interactions between ovarian hormones and serotonin systems. Perhaps these findings help us to better understand the vulnerability to mood disorders at times when estradiol and progesterone are high, such as the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Of note is the fact that these changes in response to estradiol and progesterone were not observed in hippocampi of male rats, underscoring the importance of sexual differentiation of the brain on the effects of gonadal steroids.Studying nonhuman primates with PET imaging of D2 receptors, Czoty et al (2008) found that [18F]FCP binding sites showed a greater availability in the caudate and putamen during the luteal phase, suggesting more unoccupied receptors during this menstrual cycle phase. Although the changes might be due to increased numbers of receptors, the use of a ligand displaceable by endogenous DA suggests the alternative possibility that higher receptor availability reflects decreased DA release during...

show abstract

Testosterone Increases Amygdala Reactivity in Middle-Aged Women to a Young Adulthood Level

Cited by 26 publications

References 60 publications

Testosterone causes both prosocial and antisocial status-enhancing behaviors in human males

Testosterone causes both prosocial and antisocial status-enhancing behaviors in human males

Testosterone and human behavior: the role of individual and contextual variables

Perspective: Sex Matters: Gonadal Steroids and the Brain

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About