High levels of testosterone affect parts of the brain linked with emotion

The findings show that elevated testosterone can affect how brain regions communicate, reducing a person's ability to empathise with others They were slower to recognise emotions and made more mistakes in tasks In women given high doses of the hormone their brain activity changed Whenever differences between men and women crop up in conversation, the explanation may often be an oversimplified answer of 'hormones'. A new study has revealed that women who had been administered high doses of the hormone took longer to identify emotions and made more mistakes than those who hadn't taken testosterone In the study, led by Dr Peter Bos of Utrecht University, a small group of women was tested to see what effect testosterone had on how their brains processed empathy. The team found those women who had been administered testosterone took longer to identify emotions and made more mistakes than those who hadn't taken the hormone. Researchers suggest that for people with autistic spectrum disorders, reduced empathy could potentially be explained by higher exposure to testosterone in the womb, which could alter the way the regions of brain communicate with one another in processing emotional cues Women were found to be more likely to 'catch' a yawn from other people yawning, which is believed to be a recognised sign of empathy.