Cortisol administration induces global down-regulation of the brain's reward circuitry
Abstract
Research in rodents and humans has shown divergent effects of the glucocorticoids corticosterone and cortisol (CRT) on reward processing. In rodents, administration of CRT increases reward drive by facilitating dopamine release in the ventral striatum. In humans, correspondingly, risky decision-making increases when CRT levels are elevated. Human stress studies contrariwise show that elevated CRT is accompanied by a decrease in reward-related brain activity. There are however no direct insights into how CRT acts on the reward system in the human brain. Accordingly, we used pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging (pharmaco-fMRI) to investigate the effects of CRT on the brain's reward system. In a randomized within-subject design we administered a high dose of CRT (40 mg) and placebo to twenty healthy male volunteers on separate days, and used a monetary incentive delay task to assess the effects of the hormone on the striatum and the amygdala in anticipation of potential reward. In contrast to animal studies, we show that this high dose of CRT strongly decreases activity of the striatum in both reward and non-reward conditions. Furthermore, we observed reductions in activity in the basolateral amygdala, a key regulator of the brain's reward system. Crucially, the overall down-regulation of the brain's reward circuit was verified on the subjective level as subjects reported significantly reduced reward preference after CRT. In sum, we provide here direct evidence in humans that CRT acts on brain regions involved in reward-related behavior, that is, the basolateral amygdala and the striatum. Our findings suggest that CRT in the quantity and time course presently used globally down-regulates the reward system, and thereby decreases motivational processing in general.
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The way task instructions are worded-autonomy-supportive or controlling-influences motor learning, perhaps through the down-regulatory effect of cortisol on the brain's reward circuitry.
“The way in which task instructions are worded-that is, whether the language is autonomy-supportive or controlling-has been shown to influence motor learning (Hooyman, Wulf, & Lewthwaite, 2014), perhaps through the down-regulatory effect of cortisol on the brain's reward circuitry (Montoya, Bos, Terburg, Rosenberger, & van Honk, 2014).”
From Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (2016) · cites this paper as Montoya et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Montoya, E. R., Bos, P. A., Terburg, D., Rosenberger, L. A., & van Honk, J.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Montoya, Estrella R.
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-09
- Volume
- 47
- Pages
- 31-42
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2114753414
- Cited by
- 80
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 7
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- cortisol, glucocorticoids, reward processing, reward systems, ventral striatum, basolateral amygdala, monetary incentive delay task, reward preference, stress, dopamine release
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Brain, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Nerve Net, Reward, Saliva, Down-Regulation, Young Adult
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