Endogenous plasma testosterone levels and commission errors in women: a preliminary report
Abstract
A correlation between elevated testosterone and aggressive behavior has been demonstrated in animals and to a lesser degree in humans, primarily in the context of dominance. Some aggression, namely non-premeditated aggression, is characterized by impaired impulse control. Real-world aggressive histories and self-reported impulsivity have correlated with commission errors (failures to withhold responses to nontarget stimuli) in versions of the continuous performance test (CPT). To begin exploring whether testosterone may play a role in aggression due more to a direct relationship with impaired impulse control, we related plasma total testosterone concentrations of 27 psychiatrically healthy women to commission errors in two variants of the CPT - with and without interstimulus distracters. Controlling for age and IQ, testosterone did not relate to rates of correct detections in either task, but correlated positively with commission errors in the distracter CPT variant. In light of the fact previous studies find commission errors on the CPT are associated with impulsivity, the results of this study support a positive relationship between testosterone and impulsivity.
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In women, testosterone administration appears to improve verbal fluency, verbal learning and memory, while response inhibition performance decreases.
“Further, verbal fluency, verbal learning and memory appear to improve with administration of T in women (Davison et al., 2011; Drake et al., 2000), whereas response inhibition performance decreases (Bjork et al., 2001).”
From Reproductive steroids and ADHD symptoms across the menstrual cycle (2018) · cites this paper as Bjork et al., 2001
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- Authors
- BJORK, J., MOELLER, F., DOUGHERTY, D., & SWANN, A.
- Affiliations
- Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory and Clinic (US)
- Corresponding author
- MOELLER, F
- Venue
- Physiology & Behavior
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2001-05
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 217-221
- ISSN
- 0031-9384 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2006738234
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 0.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physiology & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA 12046, R01AA012046)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- testosterone, plasma testosterone, impulsivity, commission errors, continuous performance test, women, distractors, impulse control, aggression
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Arousal, Attention, Discrimination Learning, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Performance, Retention, Psychology, Serial Learning, Testosterone
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