Testosterone heightens neural sensitivity to social inclusion and exclusion, study finds

A new study published in Neuropharmacology has found that testosterone can heighten the brain’s responsiveness to both positive and negative social experiences. In a carefully controlled experiment, healthy men who received testosterone showed amplified brain activity related to empathy for others’ inclusion and exclusion experiences, even though their self-reported feelings of empathy remained unchanged. These results suggest that testosterone may play a role in fine-tuning social vigilance by strengthening the brain’s sensitivity to emotionally significant cues.

Empathy is often described as the ability to understand and share the emotions of others, and it has been widely studied in the context of negative experiences like sadness or distress. However, researchers have paid less attention to how positive empathy—feeling joy for others’ successes—may be influenced by hormones such as testosterone. Most prior research has focused on whether testosterone impairs empathy, particularly for others’ suffering. Much less is known about how it might shape more complex forms of social responsiveness in both positive and negative emotional contexts.

The research team sought to bridge these gaps. They designed a study to test whether testosterone affects both positive and negative empathy when people observe social inclusion or exclusion events. They also aimed to understand whether testosterone could change brain activity at rest, setting the stage for different emotional reactions even before social interactions begin.

“My research initially focused on empathy, as it’s a fundamental part of how we connect and interact with others. Over time, I became curious about how biological factors—especially hormones like testosterone—might influence this process,” said study author Weiwei Peng, a professor at Shenzhen University and director of the Pain Cognition and Modulation Laboratory.

“While most studies have explored how testosterone affects empathy in negative situations, much less is known about its role in positive empathy, like sharing in someone’s happiness, which is key to social bonding. We designed this study to explore both emotional reactions and brain activity to get a fuller picture of how testosterone may shape empathy. These insights could ultimately help us better support people with conditions like autism or depression, where empathy is often affected.”

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For their study, the researchers recruited 35 healthy young men, ultimately analyzing data from 34 participants after excluding one due to equipment issues. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, each participant completed two sessions spaced about a week apart. In one session, participants received a topical testosterone gel, and in the other, they received a placebo gel. The order of sessions was randomized, and neither participants nor researchers knew which gel was administered at the time.

Three hours after the gel application—timed to match the peak effects of testosterone—the participants first completed a resting-state brain recording using electroencephalography (EEG), a method that measures electrical activity in the brain. They then performed an empathy task, viewing images showing people either being socially included, excluded, or in neutral situations. After each image, participants rated how pleasant they thought the person in the image felt, as well as how pleasant they themselves felt while viewing it.

Although participants’ ratings of empathy did not change between testosterone and placebo sessions, their brain activity told a different story. When witnessing social exclusion, participants who had received testosterone showed a stronger early brain response, known as the N2 component, which is thought to reflect rapid emotional processing and threat detection. This suggests that testosterone made participants’ brains more sensitive to signs of social rejection.

When viewing scenes of social inclusion, testosterone altered brain activity in a different way. Participants exhibited a stronger suppression of brain waves in the alpha frequency range—a phenomenon known as alpha event-related desynchronization—over the back of the brain. This pattern is usually interpreted as a sign of increased engagement with emotionally significant or rewarding stimuli. In this case, it indicates that testosterone enhanced neural responsiveness to positive social experiences as well.

“Testosterone may tune the brain to better recognize both emotional pain and joy in others—even before we’re aware of it ourselves,” Peng told PsyPost. “Our study challenges the common view of testosterone as solely an ‘antisocial’ hormone. We found that it actually makes the brain more sensitive to both positive and negative social experiences, like feeling included or excluded. It didn’t change how empathic people said they felt, but it did make their brains react more strongly to emotional situations. That suggests testosterone could help us stay more tuned in to what others are feeling, which could have real value for people who struggle with social connection, such as those with autism or depression.”

Beyond these immediate reactions to social situations, testosterone also influenced the brain’s resting activity. Analysis of EEG recordings during rest revealed that testosterone prolonged the presence of a specific brain state known as microstate E. This brain pattern has been linked to emotional processing and awareness of internal bodily states. Importantly, participants who showed a larger testosterone-induced increase in microstate E also tended to show greater emotional empathy during the social tasks, even though they did not necessarily rate themselves as more empathetic.

These findings suggest that testosterone may increase a baseline sensitivity to emotional information, making the brain more responsive to both threats and rewards in social environments. Rather than simply dampening or boosting empathy in one direction, testosterone appears to fine-tune the brain’s social radar, enhancing the detection of both positive and negative social cues.

“One surprising finding from our study was how testosterone changed the brain’s resting activity—specifically in a brain state called microstate E, which is tied to internal bodily awareness and emotion processing,” Peng explained. “Testosterone made this brain state last longer, and that increase actually predicted greater emotional empathy in both positive and negative situations. It suggests testosterone may heighten our sensitivity to emotional signals by tuning how we internally process and monitor those feelings—even before we respond outwardly.”

The results align with theories proposing that testosterone is not purely a “dominance hormone” but rather a flexible regulator of social behavior. In environments where quick detection of social threats is important, testosterone might help individuals stay vigilant. In settings where cooperation and bonding are beneficial, it may enhance sensitivity to affiliative cues.

While the study offers important insights, it also has several limitations. The sample was relatively small and restricted to young adult males, limiting the ability to generalize the findings.

“Since testosterone is often labeled as a male hormone, our study focused on men, which means the results might not apply to women or older adults,” Peng noted. “Another limitation is that while we saw clear changes in brain activity, these didn’t always lead to noticeable changes in behavior. That suggests testosterone’s effects may be subtler or depend on the social context. Going forward, we hope to study more diverse groups and use more real-world social situations to understand the full picture.”

Future research could build on these results by studying a broader range of participants, exploring long-term effects of testosterone, or combining hormone administration with behavioral interventions aimed at improving social functioning. There is particular interest in whether these findings could eventually inform strategies to support individuals with empathy deficits, such as those seen in autism spectrum disorders or certain mood disorders.

“Testosterone is a fascinating topic, especially in the context of empathy,” Peng said. “We’re planning to explore how it interacts with other brain modulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and whether it could contribute to future interventions. This is particularly relevant for clinical conditions like autism or depression, where empathy is often disrupted. Ultimately, our goal is to understand how testosterone influences the brain’s empathy systems so we can help develop new ways to support emotional and social functioning in people who need it most.”

“At our lab, we’re passionate about understanding how the brain processes pain and empathy. Personally, I’ve always been fascinated by how we recognize and respond to both our own and others’ emotional states. Our goal is to turn what we learn into real-world tools—interventions that help people better manage pain and build stronger empathic connections. By combining neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, and brain stimulation methods, we’re working to uncover how empathy and pain are wired in the brain—and how we can use that knowledge to improve people’s lives.”

The study, “The role of testosterone in modulating positive and negative empathy in social interactions,” was authored by Shiwei Zhuo, Yinhua Zhang, Chennan Lin, Wen Wu, and Weiwei Peng.