Endogenous plasma testosterone levels and commission errors in women: A preliminary report

A correlation between elevated testosterone and aggressive behavior has bee n demonstrated in animals and to a lesser degree in humans, primarily in th e context of dominance. Some aggression, namely non-premeditated aggression , is characterized by impaired impulse control. Real-world aggressive histo ries and self-reported impulsivity have correlated with commission errors ( failures to withhold responses to nontarget stimuli) in versions of the con tinuous performance test (CPT). To begin exploring whether testosterone may play a role in aggression due more to a direct relationship with impaired impulse control, we related plasma total testosterone concentrations of 27 psychiatrically healthy women to commission errors in two Variants of the C PT - with and without interstimulus distracters. Controlling for age and IQ , testosterone did not relate to rates of comet detections in either task, but correlated positively with commission errors in the distracter CPT vari ant. In light of the fact previous studies find commission errors on the CP T are associated with impulsivity, the results of this study support a posi tive relationship between testosterone and impulsivity. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience Inc. All rights reserved.