A new study using laboratory animals found that those were given steroids in adolescence were more aggressive as adults. One implication of this study is that teenagers who use steroids may do long-term harm to their bodies.

• Researchers at Michigan State University used two groups of male hamsters, giving one group steroids during adolescence and the other steroids in adulthood.
  
• Both groups showed more aggressive behaviors. However, the ones who got steroids during adolescence stopped using submissive behaviors altogether.
  
• The researchers could not find a single incidence of submissive behavior in these animals during adulthood.

The study appeared in the journal Behavioral Brain Research.

Labels: brain_chemistry, steroids, behaviors

Posted By: Aspen/CRC