The effects of intranasal oxytocin on the efficacy of psychotherapy for major depressive disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although both pharmacotherapy and psychological treatments are considered to be efficacious in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), one third of patients do not respond to treatment and many experience residual symptoms post-treatment. In this double-blind placebo-controlled randomized control trial (RCT), we assessed whether intranasal oxytocin (OT) augments the therapeutic efficacy of psychotherapy for MDD and improves the therapeutic alliance.

Methods: Twenty-three volunteers (12 female) with MDD underwent 16 sessions of interpersonal therapy.

Depressive symptoms and social context modulate oxytocin's effect on negative memory recall.

Oxytocin promotes social affiliation across various species, in part by altering social cognition to facilitate approach behaviour. However, the effects of intranasal oxytocin on human social cognition are mixed, perhaps because its effects are context dependent and subject to inter-individual differences. Few studies have included explicit manipulations of social context to test this supposition.

Influence of long-term thermal stress on the maturation on embryo development and Heat Shock Protein abundance in zebu cattle.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of long-term temperature stress during the maturation (IVM) of oocytes on the embryo production (IVP) and the abundance of HSP70 and HSP90 in zebu cattle. Viable cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were incubated for 24 h at 37 °C, 38.5 °C, or 40 °C for the low-, physiological, and high-temperature stress treatments, respectively.

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) as a predictor of antral follicle population in heifers.

Antral follicular population (AFP) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentration are strongly associated. Thus, analyzing AMH concentration is a reliable method to predict animals with high AFP, an important feature to select donor cows for embryos and oocytes. However, not much is known about this parameter in heifers, particularly in crossbred animals.

A meta-analytic review of the correlation between peripheral oxytocin and cortisol concentrations.

The stress dampening effects of exogenous oxytocin in humans have been well documented. However, the relation between endogenous oxytocin and cortisol is poorly understood. We conducted a meta-analysis on the correlation between oxytocin and cortisol levels measured at baseline (k=24, N=739).

Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes.

This study assessed sexual orientation and psychobiological stress indices in relation to salivary sex hormones as part of a well-validated laboratory-based stress paradigm. Participants included 87 healthy adults that were on average 25 years old who self-identified as lesbian/bisexual women (n=20), heterosexual women (n=21), gay/bisexual men (n=26), and heterosexual men (n=20). Two saliva samples were collected fifteen minutes before and fifteen minutes after exposure to a modified Trier Social Stress Test to determine testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone concentrations via enzyme-immune assaying.

Oxytocin and social context moderate social support seeking in women during negative memory recall.

Background: Oxytocin is theorized to promote social support seeking under stress- an alternate biobehavioural response to challenge known as the tend-and-befriend response. These effects may be context dependent, however, and no study has evaluated this effect in the presence and absence of social support. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oxytocin on the experience of recalling emotional autobiographical memories in two contexts-with and without social contact with an experimenter.

Memory response to oxytocin predicts relationship dissolution over 18 months.

Background: Oxytocin is known for its role in pair bonding in non-human animals. To examine the role of oxytocin in human romantic bonding, we examined its effect on recall of memories of past and current romantic experiences as predictors of relationship dissolution.

Method: In a placebo-controlled, within-subject, randomized experiment, 48 participants (24♀; 16 single) self-administered intranasal oxytocin and completed an autobiographical memory test.

Research Review: Executive function deficits in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - a meta-analysis.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-like symptoms are common in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). FASD and ADHD groups both display executive function impairments; however, there is ongoing debate whether the pattern and magnitude of executive function deficits differs between these two types of disorders.

Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted (PubMed, PsychInfo; 1972-2013) to identify studies comparing the executive functioning of children with FASD with ADHD or control groups.

A meta-analytic review of the impact of intranasal oxytocin administration on cortisol concentrations during laboratory tasks: moderation by method and mental health.

Background: A large body of research has examined the acute effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on social cognition and stress-regulation. While progress has been made with respect to understanding the effect of oxytocin administration on social cognition in clinical populations (e.g.

Intranasal oxytocin attenuates the human acoustic startle response independent of emotional modulation.

Oxytocin promotes social affiliation in humans. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon require further elucidation. The present study investigated the influence of intranasal oxytocin on basic emotional processing in men and women, using an emotion-modulated startle response paradigm.

Oxytocin and enhancement of the positive valence of social affiliation memories: an autobiographical memory study.

Intranasal oxytocin has been shown to alter self-perceptions of personality (e.g., more trusting, increased extraversion).

The effect of intranasal oxytocin on perceiving and understanding emotion on the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT).

Evidence suggests that intranasal oxytocin enhances the perception of emotion in facial expressions during standard emotion identification tasks. However, it is not clear whether this effect is desirable in people who do not show deficits in emotion perception. That is, a heightened perception of emotion in faces could lead to "oversensitivity" to the emotions of others in nonclinical participants.

The role of oxytocin in social bonding, stress regulation and mental health: an update on the moderating effects of context and interindividual differences.

In this review we summarize the results and conclusions of five studies as presented in a symposium at the 42nd annual meeting of the International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology, in New York in September 2012. Oxytocin administration has received increasing attention for its role in promoting positive social behavior and stress regulation, and its potential as a therapeutic intervention for addressing various aspects of psychiatric disorders. However, it has been noted that the observed effects are not uniformly beneficial.

Stress-induced negative mood moderates the relation between oxytocin administration and trust: evidence for the tend-and-befriend response to stress?

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests that oxytocin, a nonapeptide posited to underlie the affiliation-related "tend-and-befriend" behavioral response to stress (Taylor et al., 2000), may improve interpersonal functioning by facilitating the acquisition of social support during times of distress. The assertion, however, has not been explicitly tested in humans.

Intranasal oxytocin impedes the ability to ignore task-irrelevant facial expressions of sadness in students with depressive symptoms.

The administration of oxytocin promotes prosocial behavior in humans. The mechanism by which this occurs is unknown, but it likely involves changes in social information processing. In a randomized placebo-controlled study, we examined the influence of intranasal oxytocin and placebo on the interference control component of inhibition (i.

Intranasal oxytocin attenuates the cortisol response to physical stress: a dose-response study.

Introduction: Intranasal oxytocin attenuates cortisol levels during social stress inductions. However, no research to date has documented the dose-response relation between intranasal oxytocin administration and cortisol, and researchers examining intranasal oxytocin have not examined the cortisol response to physical stress. We therefore examined the effects of 24IU and 48IU of intranasal oxytocin on the cortisol response to vigorous exercise.

The acute effects of intranasal oxytocin on automatic and effortful attentional shifting to emotional faces.

Oxytocin is known to promote social affiliation. The mechanism by which this occurs is unknown, but it may involve changes in social information processing. In a placebo-controlled study, we examined the influence of intranasal oxytocin on effortful and automatic attentional shifting in 57 participants using a spatial cueing task with emotional and neutral faces.

Intranasal oxytocin and salivary cortisol concentrations during social rejection in university students.

Oxytocin facilitates pro-social behaviour and is proposed as a regulatory factor controlling stress reactivity. Previous research on oxytocin and stress has focused on achievement-related stressors among male participants. The aims of the study were to (1) examine the influence of oxytocin on the affective and cortisol response to the Yale Interpersonal Stressor (YIPS), a live social rejection paradigm, and (2) to replicate the finding that women exhibit a greater cortisol response to interpersonal stress than men (Stroud et al.

Acute intranasal oxytocin improves positive self-perceptions of personality.

Rationale: Research suggests the experimental manipulation of oxytocin facilitates positive interactions, cooperation, and trust. The mechanism by which oxytocin influences social behavior is not well understood.

Objective: We explored the hypothesis that oxytocin alters how people perceive themselves, which could be one mechanism by which oxytocin promotes prosocial behavior.

Coping style moderates the effect of intranasal oxytocin on the mood response to interpersonal stress.

Recent evidence suggests self-administration of intranasal oxytocin may facilitate social interaction by attenuating the stress response to interpersonal conflict. Currently, no published research has documented whether intraindividual factors moderate the effect of intranasal oxytocin on the emotional response to stress. The aim of the present study was to determine whether coping style moderates the effect of intranasal oxytocin on mood in response to an interpersonal stressor in healthy men and women.