ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2013
Cognitive deficits in long-term anabolic-androgenic steroid users.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anabolic-androgenic steroid administration increases self-reported aggression in healthy males: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.Psychopharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Anabolic androgenic steroids induce distinct monoaminergic and lipidomic alterations in the male rat brain.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: Emerging Use Disorder, Mechanisms of Action, and Clinical Considerations for Pharmacotherapy.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2026Article
- Nandrolone alters the behavioral response to cocaine as well as striatal and cortical dopamine receptors of prepubertal male rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Psychological traits associated with anabolic androgenic steroid use and dependence: an exploratory cross-sectional study among female athletes.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Performance-enhancing substances in sport: A scientometric review of 75 years of research.Drug testing and analysis · 2025Review
- Psychological correlates of performance-enhancing drug use: Emotional, cognitive, and social functioning in long-term and short-term users.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- A study of long-term supraphysiologic-dose anabolic-androgenic steroid use on cognitive function in middle-aged men.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Article
- Chronic high-dose testosterone impairs economic decision making, but has no effect on memory in male rats.Behavioural processes · 2024Article
- Supraphysiological testosterone levels from anabolic steroid use and reduced sensitivity to negative facial expressions in men.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Clustering psychopathology in male anabolic-androgenic steroid users and nonusing weightlifters.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
- Investigating anabolic-androgenic steroid dependence and muscle dysmorphia with network analysis among male weightlifters.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Substance availability and use in ex-professional ice hockey enforcers.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Does seeking the brawns impact the brain?: An investigation of muscularity-oriented disordered behaviors and cognitive function.Body image · 2022Article
- ADHD symptoms and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among male weightlifters.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Anabolic-androgenic steroid use is associated with psychopathy, risk-taking, anger, and physical problems.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Adverse Effects of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids: A Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Misuse: Mechanisms, Patterns of Misuse, User Typology, and Adverse Effects.Journal of sports medicine (Hindawi Publishing Corporation) · 2021Review
- Theory of mind in users of anabolic androgenic steroids.Psychopharmacology · 2020Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMillions of individuals worldwide have used anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) to gain muscle or improve athletic performance. Recently, in vitro investigations have suggested that supraphysiologic AAS doses cause apoptosis of neuronal cells. These findings raise the possibility, apparently still untested, that humans using high-dose AAS might eventually develop cognitive deficits.
methodsWe administered five cognitive tests from the computerized CANTAB battery (Pattern Recognition Memory, Verbal Recognition Memory, Paired Associates Learning, Choice Reaction Time, and Rapid Visual Information Processing) to 31 male AAS users and 13 non-AAS-using weightlifters age 29-55, recruited and studied in May 2012 in Middlesbrough, UK. Testers were blinded to participants' AAS status and other historical data.
resultsLong-term AAS users showed no significant differences from nonusers on measures of response speed, sustained attention, and verbal memory. On visuospatial memory, however, AAS users performed significantly more poorly than nonusers, and within the user group, visuospatial performance showed a significant negative correlation with total lifetime AAS dose. These were large effects: on Pattern Recognition Memory, long-term AAS users underperformed nonusers by almost one standard deviation, based on normative population scores (adjusted mean difference in z-scores=0.89; p=0.036), and performance on this test declined markedly with increasing lifetime AAS dose (adjusted change in z-score=-0.13 per 100g of lifetime AAS dose; p=0.002). These results remained stable in sensitivity analyses addressing potential confounding factors.
conclusionsThese preliminary findings raise the ominous possibility that long-term high-dose AAS exposure may cause cognitive deficits, notably in visuospatial memory.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.