In the second step, we examined whether the parameters that showed a three-way interaction effect of our experimental manipulation predict behavioral prosociality (the difference between correct choices made for others and self). Where Ot-1 denotes the outcome, and Vc,t-1 the subjective value of choice c at trial t−1. Breaking down the three-way interaction by using treatment contrasts showed that there was no significant effect of the drug treatment and visibility factors, or their interaction, on the number of correct choices made for oneself (B). Note that the analyses were performed with raw data in the 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design; the plotted difference score (other minus self) is to improve readability and interpretability. Due to the non-normal distribution of residuals, gamma distribution with a log link function was used for the parameter analyses. The schedule (initial dose, another at 4 weeks, then about every 10 weeks) aims to maintain a relatively flat level with supervised monitoring. If you come across forum phrases like "test propionate dosage per week," remember that medical dosing should still be personalized and safety-monitored as described by the Endocrine Society. Practical differences between cypionate and enanthate are small for most patients; selection can come down to availability, cost, and individual response. Enanthate behaves similarly to cypionate—clinics often use comparable weekly or twice-weekly schedules and titrate based on labs and symptoms. D Inverse temperature parameter tau that captures choice consistency significantly predicted prosociality. C In the placebo group, observation compared to privacy, relatively increased the DDM threshold for prosocial choices. B In the placebo group, observation compared to privacy, relatively increased the consistency of the prosocial choices. The results suggest that for better performance in the task, a lower learning rate from negative PE is more suitable. A In the placebo group, observation compared to privacy relatively decreased the prosocial learning rate for negative PE (i.e., the difference between αnegPE in the other condition and αnegPE in the self-condition). We’ll cover typical formulations (like cypionate and enanthate), dosing frequencies, how to read mg-to-mL conversions, and what lab numbers matter. One hundred and ninety-two male participants received either a single dose of testosterone (150 mg) or a placebo and performed a prosocial and self-benefitting reinforcement learning task. Conversely, less frequent injections can cause peaks and troughs in hormone levels, potentially exacerbating mood instability. More frequent administration, such as daily injections, tends to maintain steadier testosterone plasma concentrations, reducing fluctuations that may precipitate mood swings and energy variability. Thus, the choice of injection interval involves balancing hormone stability against patient preference and injection tolerability to optimize TRT outcomes. Weekly or bi-weekly schedules, while offering improved injection comfort, often exhibit greater hormonal variability that requires careful dose titration to mitigate symptomatic oscillations. Daily injections tend to produce minimal hormone fluctuations, maintaining near steady-state testosterone concentrations that optimize receptor engagement and symptom control. Injection consistency is vital to minimize peaks and troughs in testosterone concentrations, thereby stabilizing hormone levels within the therapeutic range. Near identical serum concentrations of total and free testosterone 7 days apart just prior to injections further supports consistency of serum testosterone levels with SC injections. The closed triangle represents a patient with one serum total testosterone measurement below the normal male range during the study; the closed square represents one patient with four serum total testosterone measurements above the normal male range during the study. On the study week, patients presented on Monday prior to self-injecting their weekly dose of testosterone cypionate. Mean levels of total and free testosterone were stable and remained well within the normal range between injections. If weekly injections leave you with noticeable highs and lows, ask your clinician whether splitting the trt dose could smooth things out without increasing the total amount you take. Along the way, we’ll address common questions such as what is a normal weekly dose of testosterone and how often injections are given. To compare self- and other-oriented decision-making, participants completed the task for themselves and for an NGO of their choice. The present study thus not only aimed to investigate if testosterone influences strategic prosociality, but also whether this is achieved by impacting reward-related computations. For one, during value learning, testosterone may influence the incorporation of so-called prediction errors (PE), which track the difference between predicted and actual outcome and are encoded by the phasic activity of midbrain dopaminergic neurons projecting to the ventral striatum 22, 23. Rather, when being watched, the hormone altered the degree to which the learned information on choice value translated to action selection. The modeling revealed that testosterone compared to placebo did not deteriorate reinforcement learning per se. We next performed reinforcement-learning drift-diffusion computational modeling to elucidate which latent aspects of decision-making testosterone acted on. Testosterone injections require strict temperature control, typically storage at 20-25°C (68-77°F), with some formulations necessitating refrigeration.