Androgen

- The hormones usually associated with aggression in both males and females are androgens. They begin to rise early in puberty and continue until they peak at age nineteen in females and twenty-one in males. The three main androgens that women make are testosterone, DHEA , and androstenedione (andro-steen-DIE-own). In a study at the University of Utah, the most in-your-face aggressive teenage girls were found to have high levels of the androgen androstenedione. Acne is a good clue that your teen’s androgen levels are high. Girls with high levels of testosterone and DHEA also tend to have sexual intercourse earlier. (pg 54 female brain)

- androgens made by ovaries, in week 2&3 of woman's cycle (pg 55 female brain)

- high androgens correlate with high aggression. (pg 55 female brain). BUT there is no one hormone of aggression just as there is no one seat of aggression in the brain.

- sex drive decreased when androgens low.Teens taking oral contraceptives have reduced aggression and sex drive because the contraceptive suppresses the ovaries, so they make less androgen. Although both men and women make testosterone, men make more than ten times as much— meaning that their sex drive is much greater than women’s.

- In the same study at the University of Utah, women who were the most outspoken and had the highest self-regard also had the highest levels of estrogen, testosterone, and androstenedione. They also ranked themselves above how their peers ranked them. (pg 55 female brain)