Lab rats will self-administer testosterone to achieve levels that optimize dopamine release.

“in general, when testosterone goes up, dopamine goes up and sometimes even vice versa. When dopamine goes up, testosterone go up. And this is true for both males and for females.”

“And as one might predict, then getting just the right levels of of testosterone uh infused into your bloodstream feels great to lab rats. They will lever press to get infused into the range that optimizes dopamine release.”

“I always think about testosterone and dopamine being close cousins in the brain because of dopamine's salient role in creating this uh bias towards extterosception. You know, when uh somebody takes a drug that increases dopamine or their chaka block full of dopamine, they tend with I want to highlight tend because this is I'm really generalizing here, but they tend to focus on outward goals, you know, things beyond the the boundaries of their skin. And testosterone seems to do a bit of the same.”