ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2015
Brain and cognition abnormalities in long-term anabolic-androgenic steroid users.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- History of Sport-Related Concussion and Long-Term Clinical Cognitive Health Outcomes in Retired Athletes: A Systematic Review.Journal of athletic training · 2020Pooled it
- Management of non-medical androgen use: a position statement by the Society for Endocrinology.Endocrine connections · 2026Article
- Anabolic androgenic steroids induce distinct monoaminergic and lipidomic alterations in the male rat brain.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Clinical features of androgen abuse withdrawal in men during the first year of cessation: a community dwelling study.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Article
- Health consequences of anabolic steroids: a sexual-medicine perspective.International journal of impotence research · 2026Review
- Non-medical use of exogenous testosterone and anabolic-androgenic substances in young men: health, psychological, and fertility consequences.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- The aporetic dialogues of Modena on gender differences: Is it all about testosterone? EPISODE I: CRIME.Andrology · 2025Review
- Psychological correlates of performance-enhancing drug use: Emotional, cognitive, and social functioning in long-term and short-term users.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Impacts of Anabolic-androgenic steroid supplementation on female health and offspring: Mechanisms, side effects, and medical perspectives.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Review
- Fitness and Dietary Supplements: A Cross-Sectional Study on Food Practices and Nutrivigilance.Nutrients · 2024Article
- 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
- Innovative Reports on the Effects of Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Abuse-How to Lose Your Mind for the Love of Sport.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Use Patterns and Steroid Use Disorders in a Sample of Male Gym Visitors.European addiction research · 2023Article
- Psychiatric morbidity among men using anabolic steroids.Depression and anxiety · 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
- The Effects of Testosterone on the Brain of Transgender Men.Androgens: clinical research and therapeutics · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAnabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use is associated with psychiatric symptoms including increased aggression as well as with cognitive dysfunction. The brain effects of long-term AAS use have not been assessed in humans.
methodsThis multimodal magnetic resonance imaging study of the brain compared 10 male weightlifters reporting long-term AAS use with 10 age-matched weightlifters reporting no AAS exposure. Participants were administered visuospatial memory tests and underwent neuroimaging. Brain volumetric analyses were performed; resting-state fMRI functional connectivity (rsFC) was evaluated using a region-of-interest analysis focused on the amygdala; and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) metabolites were quantified by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).
resultsAAS users had larger right amygdala volumes than nonusers (P=0.002) and reduced rsFC between right amygdala and frontal, striatal, limbic, hippocampal, and visual cortical areas. Left amygdala volumes were slightly larger in AAS users (P=0.061) but few group differences were detected in left amygdala rsFC. AAS users also had lower dACC scyllo-inositol levels (P=0.004) and higher glutamine/glutamate ratios (P=0.028), possibly reflecting increased glutamate turnover. On a visuospatial cognitive task, AAS users performed more poorly than nonusers, with the difference approaching significance (P=0.053).
conclusionsLong-term AAS use is associated with right amygdala enlargement and reduced right amygdala rsFC with brain areas involved in cognitive control and spatial memory, which could contribute to the psychiatric effects and cognitive dysfunction associated with AAS use. The MRS abnormalities we detected could reflect enhanced glutamate turnover and increased vulnerability to neurotoxic or neurodegenerative processes, which could contribute to AAS-associated cognitive dysfunction.
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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.