Casto Lab
Hormones - Brain - Behavior
Social Dynamics
The Casto Lab at Kent State University is directed by Dr. Kathleen Casto
At the intersection of social psychology, behavioral endocrinology, and neuroscience, the Casto Lab focuses on human neuroendocrine and social mechanisms of motivated behavior.
Research Expertise and Current Focus:
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Basal and reactive patterns of testosterone, progesterone and cortisol in relation to contests for social status.
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How hormones correlate with patterns of frontal-parietal brain activity during competition.
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A Social Evaluation and Hormonal Model of Competitive Motivation
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New directions in hormone-brain-behavior underpinnings of mental health dysregulation.
News
New empirical study published on competitive persistence in relation to HC use and menstrual phase
"Women in their mid-follicular phase outcompete hormonal contraceptive users, an effect partially explained by relatively greater progesterone and cortisol reactivity to competition."
By: Kathleen V. Casto, Lindsie C. Arthur, Siobhan Lynch-Wells, and Khandis R. Blake
Published in Psychoneuroendocrinology