Table 1.
Summary of findings from preclinical studies assessing sex differences in and hormonal regulation of risky decision making.
| Reference | Decision-making Task | Abbreviation | Task Measure | Sex Differences | Hormonal Modulation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper et al. (2014) | Risky Decision-making Task | RDT | Choice of small reward vs. large reward associated with probabilistic footshock | N/A, only male subjects | Chronic T increases risky choice |
| Orsini et al. (2016) | Risky choice ♀ > ♂ | No relationship with estrous cycle | |||
| Orsini et al. (2021) | Risky choice ♀ > ♂ | OVX increases risky choice; EB decreases risky choice; ORX decreases risky choice; T does not alter risky choice, but EB decreases risky choice in males | |||
| Wallin et al. (2015) | Probability Discounting | N/A | Choice of small, guaranteed vs. large, probabilistic rewards | N/A, only male subjects | Chronic T decreases risky choice |
| Wallin-Miller et al. (2017) | N/A | Chronic T increases risky choice in ORX males | |||
| Islas-Preciado et al. (2020) | Risky choice ♀ > ♂ | Acute T decreases risky choice in ORX males | |||
| van den Bos et al. (2012) | Rat Iowa Gambling Task | rIGT | Learning about probabilities of different reward outcomes | ♂ develop preference for the advantageous option more quickly than ♀ | Unknown |
| Wallin Miller et al., 2018 | Rat Gambling Task | rGT | Choice of optimal (more reward, less timeout, punishment) vs. suboptimal options | N/A, only male subjects | Chronic T increases disadvantageous choice |
| Georgiou et al. (2018) | Advantageous choice ♀ > ♂ | No relationship with estrous cycle | |||
| Peak et al. (2015) | ♀ develop preference for the advantageous option more quickly than ♂ | Unknown | |||
| Tan and Vyas (2016) | Probabilistic Decision-making Task (rodent model of the Balloon Analog RIsk Task) | N/A | Choice of ‘add lever’ that increases the size of a potential food reward (but also associated with a risk that the trial would fail and no reward would be delivered) vs. ‘cash-out lever’ that leads to delivery of accrued reward | N/A, only male subjects | Acute T increases tolerance for risk of reward forfeiture |
| Liley et al. (2019) | Delayed Punishment Decision-making Task | DPDT | Choice of small reward vs. large reward associated with delayed footshock | ♀ discounted delayed punishment less than ♂ | No relationship with estrous cycle |
| Pellman et al. (2017) | Risky “Closed Economy” System | N/A | Time spent in a risky foraging area, where footshocks can be delivered unpredictably | Risky choice ♀ > ♂ | Increase in risky choice during proestrus phase; No effects of OVX on risky choice |
Legend: T, Testosterone; OVX, ovariectomy; EB, estradiol benzoate; ORX, orchiectomy; ♀, female; ♂, male.