Impaired Learning
Testosterone injections may affect learning processes. A 2010 investigation in the journal Behavioural Brain Research tested this hypothesis using a maze test in male rats. Testosterone intake increased the amount of time it took for the rats to escape the maze. It also increased the total distance the rats traveled during the test. Autopsies revealed testosterone increased astrocytes, a specific type of brain cell. These cells are formed in response to learning. Thus the results suggest that rats receiving testosterone put greater effort into learning the maze but achieved less success.