The Psychology of Testosterone

By cortex on August 12, 2006.

In this otherwise excellent summary of the physiology of testosterone, the NY Times leaves out one crucial element: it's psychological effect. And no, I'm not just talking about the placebo effect. As I mentioned earlier, testosterone is well known for producing a euphoric high. We already know Landis was drowning his stage 16 sorrows in whisky. Why not add a little hormone to the mix as well? As researchers at USC note, "Testosterone overdose resembles opiate intoxication."

Obviously, we might never know if Landis broke the rules and took synthetic hormone. (Athletes have no incentive to be honest; they can't cop a plea.) But I don't think that we should be evaluating the benefts of testosterone purely in terms of muscle mass and red blood cells. When it comes to talking about athletes, we all turn back into mind-body dualists. We forget that our brain is also full of hormones, and tripling your normal hormonal ratios is bound to profoundly mess with your head. (Apparently in a good way, given Landis' stage 17 performance.)

Tags
neuroscience

More like this

Testosterone and Euphoria
I'm still puzzled over why Floyd Landis might have taken testosterone. After all, bicyclists are supposed to be svelte, and injecting yourself with a little hormone the night after a tough ride probably wouldn't lead to increased muscle recovery in time for the next day's race. So why do bicylists…
Sex Hormones! The Chemistry Behind Testosterone Doping
One only has to turn on a TV, or browse through any news site, to read the story of disgraced Tour de France winner Flloyd Landis. Landis, an American, was reported to have an abnormally high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio in one of his urine samples given right before the end of of the race…
Floyd Landis and Testosterone Testing: All the Background You Want and Need (updated X 7)
Floyd Landis, most recent winner of the Tour de France, has tested positive for testosterone use: Landis denied cheating and said he has no idea what may have caused his positive test for high testosterone following the Tour's 17th stage, where he made his comeback charge last week. But he aims to…
A Genetic Variation May Hide Steroid Abuse
After the whole Floyd Landis thing, I wrote a long post about the science of detecting steroid abuse. The primary test uses something called the T/E ratio to determine whether the athlete has injected steroids. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has a maximum T/E ratio of 4. If an athlete gets…

But was Landis still on his high on the subsequent days when his testosterone should have remained high enough to be easily detectable - but wasn't detected?

By natural cynic (not verified) on 13 Aug 2006 #permalink