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Updated: Apr 22, 2026
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Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making
Published on: March 2, 2011
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Fighting experience alters brain androgen receptor expression dependent on testosterone status
Cheng-Yu Li1, Ryan L Earley2, Shu-Ping Huang1
1Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 88, Section 4, Ting-Chou Road, Taipei 11677, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|October 17, 2014
Summary
Winning or losing fights impacts contest decisions, influenced by hormone levels. Androgen receptor gene expression mediates these winner-loser effects, particularly in fish with lower testosterone levels.
Area of Science:
- Neuroendocrinology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Contest outcomes, known as winner-loser effects, influence future decisions.
- Steroid hormones and serotonin are linked to aggression and may mediate these effects.
- In Kryptolebias marmoratus, higher testosterone (T) correlates with winning but doesn't directly mediate winner-loser effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how winning/losing experiences affect brain receptor gene expression for androgen (AR), oestrogen (ERα/β), glucocorticoid (GR), and serotonin (5-HT1AR).
- To explore the interaction between contest experience, endocrine state, and receptor gene expression in modulating contest decisions.
Main Methods:
- Measuring brain expression levels of AR, ERα/β, GR, and 5-HT1AR genes after winning or losing contests.
- Analyzing the relationship between gene expression, testosterone levels, and contest outcomes.
- Comparing gene expression in fish initiating contests against larger versus smaller opponents.
Main Results:
- Androgen receptor (AR) gene expression changes with contest experience, dependent on endogenous testosterone (T) levels: losses decreased, wins increased AR expression in low-T individuals.
- Winner-loser effects on AR gene expression were more pronounced in individuals with lower T.
- Expression of ERα/β, 5-HT1AR, and GR genes was elevated in fish that initiated contests against larger opponents.
Conclusions:
- Androgen receptor (AR) plays a significant role in mediating winner-loser effects, especially in individuals with lower testosterone levels.
- Hormone and serotonin receptor gene expression patterns interact with contest experience and endocrine state to jointly influence contest decisions.
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