title: Single dose testosterone administration reduces loss chasing in healthy females.
abstract: Testosterone has been linked to modulation of impulsivity and risky choice, potentially mediated by changes in reward or punishment sensitivity. This study investigated the effect of testosterone on risk-taking and the adjustment of risk-taking on trials following a gain or a loss. Loss chasing is operationalized herein as the propensity to recover losses by increasing risky choice. Healthy female participants (n=26) received a single-dose of 0.5mg sublingual testosterone in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design. At 240min post-administration, participants performed a gambling task with a high and a low risk option. In the placebo condition, participants were more likely to choose the high risk option following losses compared to wins. This effect was abolished on the testosterone session. Ignoring prior outcomes, no overall changes in risk-taking were observed. Our data indicate that testosterone affects human decision-making via diminishing sensitivity to punishment.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; China Center for Special Economic Zone Research, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Jinting
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lujing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychopharmacology and Biopsychology Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eisenegger
authors.affiliation: Centre for Gambling Research at UBC, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: xz104@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000286:Administration, Sublingual; D000293:Adolescent; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010919:Placebos; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: Gambling; Punishment sensitivity; Risk taking; Testosterone