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Citation |
Kluen LM, Agorastos A, Wiedemann K, Schwabe L. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017; 84: 181-189. |
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Affiliation |
Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: lars.schwabe@uni-hamburg.de. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
28750292 |
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Abstract |
Acute stress may escalate risky decision-making in men, while there is no such effect in women. Although first evidence links these gender-specific effects of stress to stress-induced changes in cortisol, whether elevated cortisol is indeed sufficient to boost risk-taking, whether a potential cortisol effect depends on simultaneous noradrenergic activation, and whether cortisol and noradrenergic activation exert distinct effects on risk-taking in men and women is unknown. In this experiment, we therefore set out to elucidate the impact of cortisol and noradrenergic stimulation on risky decision-making in men and women. In a fully-crossed, placebo-controlled, double-blind design, male and female participants received orally either a placebo, hydrocortisone, yohimbine, an alpha-2-adrenoceptor-antagonist leading to increased noradrenergic stimulation, or both drugs before completing the balloon analogue risk task, a validated measure of risk-taking. Overall, participants' choice was risk-sensitive as reflected in reduced responding in high- compared to moderate- and low-risk conditions. Cortisol, however, led to a striking increase in risk-taking in men, whereas it had no effect on risk-taking behavior in women. Yohimbine had no such effect and the gender-specific effect of cortisol was not modulated by yohimbine. Our data show that cortisol boosts risk-taking behavior in men but not in women. This differential effect of cortisol on risk-taking may drive gender differences in risky decision-making under stress. Language: en |
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Keywords |
Cortisol; Decision-making; Noradrenaline; Prefrontal cortex; Risk-taking; Sex differences |