Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov.
Edited by Ernst Fehr, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, and accepted by Editorial Board Member Michael S. Gazzaniga February 4, 2021 (received for review October 17, 2020)
Significance
Testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior in both animals and humans. Here, we establish a link between increased testosterone and selfishness in economic decision making and identify the neural mechanisms through which testosterone reduces generosity in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-participant study. We find that testosterone induces more selfish choices, particularly when distant others are concerned. Moreover, it disrupts the representation of other-regarding value in local activity and functional connectivity involving the temporoparietal junction and subcortical regions involved in reward processing. Our study provides causal evidence for a testosterone-mediated neurohormonal link between generosity and the valuation system.
Abstract
Recent evidence has linked testosterone, a major sex hormone, to selfishness in economic decision-making. Here, we aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms through which testosterone reduces generosity by combining functional MRI with pharmacological manipulation among healthy young males in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject design. After testosterone or placebo gel administration, participants performed a social discounting task in which they chose between selfish options (benefiting only the participant) and generous options (providing also some benefit to another person at a particular social distance). At the behavioral level, testosterone reduced generosity compared to the placebo. At the neural level (n = 60), the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) encoded the other-regarding value of the generous option during generous choices, and this effect was attenuated by testosterone, suggesting that testosterone reduced the consideration of other’s welfare as underpinned by TPJ activity. Moreover, TPJ activity more strongly reflected individual differences in generosity in the placebo than the testosterone group. Furthermore, testosterone weakened the relation between the other-regarding value of generous decisions and connectivity between the TPJ and a region extending from the insula into the striatum. Together, these findings suggest that a network encompassing both cortical and subcortical components underpins the effects of testosterone on social preferences.
Footnotes
↵1J.O. and Y.W. contributed equally to this work.
- ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: yinwu0407{at}gmail.com or lihongwrm{at}vip.sina.com.
Author contributions: J.O., Y.W., and P.N.T. designed research; J.O. and Y.W. performed research; J.O., Y.W., Y.H., X.G., H.L., and P.N.T. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; J.O., Y.W., and Y.H. analyzed data; and J.O., Y.W., Y.H., X.G., H.L., and P.N.T. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no competing interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. E.F. is a guest editor invited by the Editorial Board.
This article contains supporting information online at https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2021745118/-/DCSupplemental.
Data Availability
Behavioral data with the analyzed code are available on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/mw3tj/.
Published under the PNAS license.
References
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
Purchase access
You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
Testosterone reduces generosity through cortical and subcortical mechanisms
Article Classifications
- Social Sciences
- Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
- Biological Sciences
- Neuroscience
Sign up for Article Alerts
Jump to section
You May Also be Interested in
Recent experiments and simulations are starting to answer some fundamental questions about how life came to be.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Radoslaw Lecyk.
Archaeologists have long tried to define the transition between the two time periods.
Image credit: Ceri Shipton.
Jonathon Yuly, David Beratan, and Peng Zhang investigate how electron bifurcation reactions work.
A study finds that giant pandas roll in horse manure to increase their cold tolerance.
Image credit: Fuwen Wei.