Menstrual cycle and competitive bidding

Trust and betrayal of trust are ubiquitous in human societies. Recent behavioral evidence shows that the neuropeptide oxytocin increases trust among humans, thus offering a unique chance of gaining a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying trust and the adaptation to breach of trust. We examined the neural circuitry of trusting behavior by combining the intranasal, double-blind, administration of oxytocin with fMRI. We find that subjects in the oxytocin group show no change in their trusting behavior after they learned that their trust had been breached several times while subjects receiving placebo decrease their trust. This difference in trust adaptation is associated with a specific reduction in activation in the amygdala, the midbrain regions, and the dorsal striatum in subjects receiving oxytocin, suggesting that neural systems mediating fear processing (amygdala and midbrain regions) and behavioral adaptations to feedback information (dorsal striatum) modulate oxytocin's effect on trust. These findings may help to develop deeper insights into mental disorders such as social phobia and autism, which are characterized by persistent fear or avoidance of social interactions.

The differentiation of the urinogenital system and the appendicular skeleton in vertebrates is under the control of Hox genes. The common control of digit and gonad differentiation raises the possibility that patterns of digit formation may relate to spermatogenesis and hormonal concentrations. This work was concerned with the ratio between the length of the 2nd and 4th digit (2D:4D) in humans. We showed that (i) 2D:4D in right and left hands has a sexually dimorphic pattern; in males mean 2D:4D = 0.98, i.e. the 4th digit tended to be longer than the 2nd and in females mean 2D:4D = 1.00, i.e. the 2nd and 4th digits tended to be of equal length. The dimorphism is present from at least age 2 years and 2D:4D is probably established in utero; (ii) high 2D:4D ratio in right hands was associated with germ cell failure in men (P = 0.04); (iii) sperm number was negatively related to 2D:4D in the right hand (P = 0.004); (iv) in men testosterone concentrations were negatively related to right hand 2D:4D and in women and men LH (right hand), oestrogen (right and left hands) and prolactin (right hand) concentrations were positively correlated with 2D:4D ratio and (v) 2D:4D ratio in right hands remained positively related to luteinizing hormone and oestrogen after controlling for sex, age, height and weight.