Cortisol
nmol/L
Glucocorticoid of the HPA axis. Marks threat, metabolic load, and social evaluation stress.
Cortisol is not 'the stress hormone' in a cartoon sense. It indexes HPA activation under social-evaluative threat, sleep loss, illness, and circadian phase. In the dual-hormone hypothesis it is the brake: high cortisol is proposed to block or reverse testosterone's link to status-seeking.
Also called glucocorticoid, HPA.
Incident edges
MECHANISM
Observational · Moderate
Cortisol→Leadership effectiveness
High cortisol is the condition under which 'high T = leader' fails. The internet quote drops this term.
MECHANISM
Randomized trial · High confidence
Sleep duration and regularity→Cortisol
Sleep debt is an HPA intervention. It is also a HOMA-IR intervention.
Cases
Sources
- P. H. Mehta et al. (2010). Testosterone and cortisol jointly regulate dominance: Evidence for a dual-hormone hypothesis
- J. M. Carré et al. (2015). Social neuroendocrinology of human aggression: Examining the role of competition-induced testosterone dynamics
- K. Spiegel et al. (1999). Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function