A recent study published in the journal Psychopharmacology shows that men currently using anabolic-androgenic steroids face challenges in accurately recognizing facial expressions of emotion, especially those of anger and disgust. This effect appears to be more pronounced among individuals with steroid dependence.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids, synthetic variations of the male hormone testosterone, are widely known for their use among athletes and bodybuilders to enhance physical performance and muscle mass. Despite their popularity, anabolic-androgenic steroids come with a host of potential side effects, including significant impacts on mental health and cognitive functions.
Prior studies have associated anabolic-androgenic steroids use with increased aggression, anxiety, depression, and personality disorders. Intriguingly, these behavioral changes may stem from impaired social cognitive functions, such as recognizing and interpreting others’ emotions—a crucial skill for effective non-verbal communication and empathy.
Motivated by the gap in understanding the specific impact of anabolic-androgenic steroids on emotional recognition, researchers conducted this study to better understand the effects of steroid use and dependence on the ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion accurately. They hypothesized that anabolic-androgenic steroid use would correlate with diminished accuracy in emotional recognition, potentially mediated by altered hormone levels.
“Our team has previously investigated the role of anabolic steroids in recognizing emotions from biological movement and theory of mind video tasks, so we were interested in how people who use(d) steroids recognize emotions from facial expressions,” said study author Morgan Scarth, a postdoctoral researcher at Oslo University Hospital.
“We were also interested if fluctuations in hormone levels could explain any differences in emotional recognition abilities. The ability to recognize and respond to other people’s emotions may have implications for social behaviors.”
The study cohort comprised 171 adult men engaged in heavy resistance training, divided into two main groups: those who had used anabolic-androgenic steroids (94 participants) and a control group with no history of steroid use (77 participants). The steroid group was further categorized based on current usage status into those currently using steroids (“On”) and those who had ceased use (“Off”).
Participants underwent a comprehensive evaluation including emotional recognition tasks, hormone level measurements, and assessments for anabolic-androgenic steroid dependence. Emotional recognition was tested using a computerized task where participants identified emotions from facial expressions. Hormone levels were analyzed from blood samples, focusing on the serum free testosterone index (FTI) among others.
Men who were currently using steroids demonstrated a significantly lower ability to accurately recognize facial expressions of anger and disgust. This indicates that steroid use may impair individuals’ capacity to interpret these particular negative emotions, which could have implications for social interactions and communication.
The researchers further identified that individuals with a dependence on steroids showed a worse recognition of fear compared to those without such dependence. This suggests that beyond the general effects of steroid use, developing a dependence on these substances might be associated with additional deficits in social cognition.
The researchers did not find evidence that FTI levels significantly mediated the impact of steroid use on the ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion. This indicates that while testosterone levels are altered by steroid use and correlated with changes in emotion recognition, they do not fully explain the observed deficits in recognizing certain emotions.
“Men who are currently using anabolic steroids may have a reduced ability to recognize negative facial emotional expressions, specifically anger and disgust,” Scarth told PsyPost. “This effect does not seem to be explained by fluctuations in the hormone levels measured in the study. Men who had previously used anabolic steroids but have quit did not seem to have the same deficits, suggesting that this effect may be temporary.”
However, the study is not without its limitations. The specificity of the sample — all male, heavily involved in resistance training, and primarily Norwegian — limits the generalizability of the findings to broader populations, including females and those from other cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the cross-sectional design precludes conclusions about causality, and the presence of unmeasured confounding variables could influence the observed relationships.
“The study is cross-sectional, so we cannot make any claims that steroid use causes impaired emotion recognition,” Scarth explained. “Also, we do not account for the specific types of anabolic steroids used, nor the duration of use or how recently steroids were used prior to completing the emotion recognition task, which may have some impact on social cognitive abilities.”
Looking ahead, the research team aims to delve deeper into the neurological impacts of anabolic-androgenic steroids, with a particular focus on how these substances affect brain aging and cognitive functions over time. By unraveling the nuanced ways in which synthetic hormones influence our minds and social lives, this line of inquiry holds the promise of informing more effective interventions for those affected by steroid use and dependence.
“The research group is continuing to investigate how anabolic steroids impact the brain and cognition, and is particularly interested in the effects of anabolic steroids on brain aging,” Scarth said.
The study, “Supraphysiological testosterone levels from anabolic steroid use and reduced sensitivity to negative facial expressions in men,” was authored by Morgan Scarth, Lisa Evju Hauger, Per Medbøe Thorsby, Siri Leknes, Ingunn R Hullstein, Lars T. Westlye, and Astrid Bjørnebekk.
