Endogenous testosterone levels are associated with amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex responses to anger faces in men but not women

Testosterone moderates behavioral and physiological responses to the emotion anger. However, little is known about the effects of testosterone in the human brain in the context of the perception of anger. We used fMRI to measure BOLD responses to anger faces in the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) as a function of endogenous testosterone levels in 24 participants (10 men). In one task, participants passively viewed anger faces and neutral faces and in another task, participants engaged in an oddball task while viewing anger and neutral faces. Men's, but not women's, amygdala BOLD response to anger faces was negatively correlated with their endogenous testosterone levels in both tasks. Men's, but not women's, vmPFC BOLD response to anger faces was positively correlated with their endogenous testosterone levels in the passive-viewing task. In men, amygdala and vmPFC BOLD responses to anger faces were negatively associated. Our results extend past research by documenting associations between endogenous testosterone levels and BOLD responses to anger faces in the amygdala and vmPFC in men, and our results also support research that documents negative associations between amygdala and vmPFC activity.