Testosterone induces off-line perceptual learning

Abstract

RationalePerceptual learning operates on distinct timescales. How different neuromodulatory systems impact on learning across these different timescales is poorly understood.ObjectivesHere, we test the causal impact of a novel influence on perceptual learning, the androgen hormone testosterone, across distinct timescales.MethodsIn a double-blind, placebo- controlled, cross-over study with testosterone, subjects undertook a simple contrast detection task during training sessions on two separate days.ResultsOn placebo, there was no learning either within training sessions or between days, except for a fast, rapidly saturating, improvement early on each testing day. However, testosterone caused “off-line” learning, with no learning seen within training sessions, but a marked performance improvement over the days between sessions. This testosterone-induced learning occurred in the absence of changes in subjective confidence or introspective accuracy.ConclusionsOur findings show that testosterone influences perceptual learning on a timescale consistent with an influence on “off-line” consolidation processes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00213-012-2769-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Noradrenaline blockade specifically enhances metacognitive performance

“…Our findings also raise the possibility that a recent report of increased performance and confidence ratings following dopaminergic enhancement ( Lou et al, 2011 ) may reflect a performance, but not a metacognitive, effect. This finding is akin to a previous report of specific testosterone effects, where there was an effect on perceptual performance but not metacognition ( Wright et al, 2012 ).…”

Postcontest blockade of dopamine receptors inhibits development of the winner effect in the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus).

“…An alternative, though related interpretation of our results, is that DA may be critically important for the integration of information across successive training victories that is necessary for an individual to compete successfully against an evenly matched opponent. T has been shown to serve a similar function in humans (Wright, Edwards, Fleming, & Dolan, 2012). Participants that were given T between training sessions on a cognitive task learned more (as measured by performance) than placebo or control group members suggesting a role for T in “off-line” learning.…”

Prestige in a large-scale social group predicts longitudinal changes in testosterone.

“…Of these, three particularly compelling sets of findings come from (a) Josephs, Sellers, Newman, and Mehta (2006), who show how the assignment of individuals with high T to a lowstatus treatment induces substantial distress by eliciting negative affect and physiological arousal, bolstering attentiveness to status cues, and suppressing cognitive functioning and performance; (b) Mehta, Jones, and Josephs (2008), who show how cortisol-a neuroendocrine marker of stress-rises among high T individuals who lose status by suffering a defeat in a competition, but drops among high T individuals who gain status by winning; and (c) Mehta, Lawless DesJardins, van Vugt, and Josephs (2017) and Slatcher, Mehta, and Josephs (2011), who found that men with high circulating T showed more characteristic dominant ethological displays, including self-entitling and assertive gestures and verbal statements, and disproportionate claims to shared resources. Complementing these findings, laboratory studies, some of which involve exogenous administration of T to establish causality, also reveal the effects of circulating or rising T on propelling traits that heighten competitiveness, including persistence (Andrew & Rogers, 1972;Archer, 1977), competitive motivation (Carré & McCormick, 2008;Coates, Gurnell, & Rustichini, 2009;, and reduced stress and fear (Hermans et al, 2007;Hermans, Putman, Baas, Koppeschaar, & van Honk, 2006), or capabilities that contribute to the likelihood of future success, such as memory and learning (Ackermann et al, 2012;Wright, Edwards, Fleming, & Dolan, 2012), and cognitive acumen (Coates et al, 2009;Janowsky, Oviatt, & Orwoll, 1994;Newman, Sellers, & Josephs, 2005;O'Connor, Archer, Hair, & Wu, 2001;. These lines of evidence suggest that T is crucial for understanding the determinants of when and why individuals strive to out-excel others in rank and high status behaviors (Mazur & Booth, 1998).…”

“…By contrast, much prior longitudinal work with nonhuman primates has shown that individuals who experience a rank defeat show depressed T for weeks, sometimes even up to 9 weeks following a profound defeat (Bernstein, Rose, & Gordon, 1974; Rose, Gordon, & Bernstein, 1972). Whether parallel effects are seen in humans over the timescale of weeks or months remains an open and important question, especially given their cumulative and significantly greater influence on long-term neural, cognitive, and behavioral responses compared to acute T fluctuations (Azad, Pitale, Barnes, & Friedman, 2003; Coates, Gurnell, & Sarnyai, 2010; Wright et al, 2012). If affirmative, this would imply that rising or falling in prestige standing can influence long-lasting T change that lead to the emergence of stable, trait-like differences in behavioral profiles.…”