The neural mechanisms by which testosterone acts on interpersonal trust

Autor: Erno J. Hermans, Jack van Honk, Nick F. Ramsey, Peter A. Bos
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Aging
Cognitive Neuroscience
media_common.quotation_subject
DCN MP - Plasticity and memory
Administration
Sublingual
Prefrontal Cortex
Neuropeptide
Interpersonal communication
Trust
Amygdala
Functional Laterality
Young Adult
130 000 Cognitive Neurology & Memory
Image Processing
Computer-Assisted
medicine
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Testosterone
Saliva
media_common
Analysis of Variance
Cross-Over Studies
medicine.diagnostic_test
Social perception
Brain
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
130 026 VENI Hermans
‘In a fit of fear’
medicine.anatomical_structure
Social Perception
Neurology
nervous system
Data Interpretation
Statistical
Linear Models
Female
Orbitofrontal cortex
Analysis of variance
Psychology
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Neuroscience
psychological phenomena and processes
Brain Stem
Vigilance (psychology)
Cognitive psychology
Zdroj: NeuroImage, 61, 3, pp. 730-7
NeuroImage, 61, 730-7
ISSN: 1053-8119
Popis: Item does not contain fulltext Recently, we demonstrated that the steroid-hormone testosterone reduces interpersonal trust in humans. The neural mechanism which underlies this effect is however unknown. It has been proposed that testosterone increases social vigilance via neuropeptide systems in the amygdala, augmenting communication between the amygdala and the brain stem. However, testosterone also affects connectivity between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the amygdala, which could subsequently lead to increased vigilance by reduced top-down control over the amygdala. Here, in a placebo-controlled testosterone administration study with 16 young women, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to get more insights into neural mechanisms whereby testosterone acts on trust. Several cortical systems, among others the OFC, are involved in the evaluation of facial trustworthiness. Testosterone administration decreased functional connectivity between amygdala and the OFC during judgments of unfamiliar faces, and also increased amygdala responses specifically to the faces that were rated as untrustworthy. Finally, connectivity between the amygdala and the brain stem was not affected by testosterone administration. Although speculative, a neurobiological explanation for these findings is that in uncertain social situations, testosterone induces sustained decoupling between OFC and amygdala by a prefrontal-dopaminergic mechanism, subsequently resulting in more vigilant responses of the amygdala to signals of untrustworthiness.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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