title: No evidence for an effect of testosterone administration on delay discounting in male university students.
abstract: Intertemporal choices between a smaller sooner and a larger delayed reward are one of the most important types of decisions humans face in their everyday life. The degree to which individuals discount delayed rewards correlates with impulsiveness. Steep delay discounting has been associated with negative outcomes over a wide range of behaviors such as addiction. However, little is known about the biological foundations of delay discounting. Here, we examine a potential causal link between delay discounting and testosterone, a hormone which has been associated with other types of impulsive behavior. In our double-blind placebo-controlled study 91 healthy young men either received a topical gel containing 50 mg of testosterone (N=46) or a placebo (N=45) before participating in a delay discounting task with real incentives. Our main finding is that a single dose administration of testosterone did not lead to significant differences in discount rates between the placebo and the testosterone group. Within groups and in the pooled sample, no significant relationship between testosterone and discount rates was observed. At the same time, we do replicate standard findings from the delay discounting literature such as a magnitude-of-rewards effect on discount rates. In sum, our findings suggest that circulating testosterone does not have a significant effect on delay discounting in young men.
authors: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Department of NeuroCognition, Life & Brain Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors: Georgia Rada
authors: GR
authors: Ortner
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Wibral
authors: Anke
authors: A
authors: Becker
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Dohmen
authors: Dietrich
authors: D
authors: Klingmüller
authors: Armin
authors: A
authors: Falk
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Weber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011897:Random Allocation; D012201:Reward; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013739:Testosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: Behavioral endocrinology; Delay discounting; Impulsiveness; Intertemporal choice; Placebo-controlled study; Testosterone