Young men with lower testosterone levels throughout adolescence become more aware of how the hormone affects the brain’s facial responses to adulthood, according to a new study published there JNeurosci.
During prenatal brain development, sex hormones like testosterone regulate the brain in lasting ways. But research suggests that testosterone levels during another developmental period – puberty – may also have a long-term effect on brain activity.
Liao et al. studied the association between testosterone puberty levels and the brain’s response to facial expressions. Liao’s team recruited 500 men around the age of 19 who had been participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a British birth cohort study established in 1991-1992. The longitudinal study collected blood samples at several times throughout childhood, which the research team used to test testosterone levels. Study participants were asked to watch videos of facial expressions while in an fMRI scanner and provide a saliva sample on the day of the scan. For men with the lowest testosterone levels during childhood, elevated testosterone levels on the day of the fMRI scan were associated with increased brain activity in facial-sensitive areas. However, men with higher testosterone levels throughout childhood did not show an increase in activity in those brain areas with high testosterone levels. These results highlight that a person’s history, not just their state on a particular day, may contribute to the individual differences that are often seen in brain responses.
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Manuscript Title: Testosterone Pubertal and Brain Response to Faces in Young Adults: The Interplay between Organizational and Functional Effects in Young Men
About JNeurosci
JNeurosci, the first journal of the Society of Neuroscience, was launched in 1981 as a means of bringing the findings of the highest quality neuroscience study to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing modern neuroscience that will have immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to the changing publishing needs of authors, representing the breadth of the field. and diversity in authors.
About the Society for Ignorance
The Neuroscience Society is the world’s largest group of scientists and physicians dedicated to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit group, founded in 1969, now has nearly 37,000 members in more than 90 countries and more than 130 chapters worldwide.
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