title: Endogenous testosterone and cortisol modulate neural responses during induced anger control.
abstract: Research with violent offenders and delinquent adolescents suggests that endogenous testosterone concentrations have the strongest positive correlations with violence among men who have low concentrations of cortisol. The present study tested the hypothesis that testosterone and cortisol would similarly interact to determine neural activation in regions supporting self-regulation in response to anger provocation. Nineteen healthy Asian male participants were insulted and asked to control their anger during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). When cortisol levels were low, testosterone positively correlated with activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and thalamus, but not when cortisol levels were high. During induced anger control, functional connectivity was increased between the amygdala and a top-down prefrontal cortical control network. Moreover, the amygdala-PFC connectivity was strongest among those high in testosterone and low in cortisol. This research highlights a possible neural mechanism by which testosterone and cortisol may influence anger control.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. t.denson@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Denson
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ronay
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: von Hippel
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Schira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D010100:Oxygen; D006854:Hydrocortisone