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. Eighty-four participants self-administered 24 IU of intranasal oxytocin or saline and completed an assessment of the acoustic startle reflex, using electromyography (EMG), with varying emotional foregrounds. Oxytocin had no impact on the affective modulation of the startle eye blink response, but significantly diminished the acoustic startle reflex irrespective of the emotional foreground. The results suggest that oxytocin facilitates prosocial behavior, in part, by attenuating basic physiological arousal. The dampening effect of oxytocin on EMG startle could possibly be used as an inexpensive marker of oxytocin's effect on limbic brain circuits.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12263 | DOI Listing |
Front Pharmacol
January 2025
MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
Introduction: Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that intranasal oxytocin has extensive effects on the resting state functional connectivity of social and emotional processing networks and may have therapeutic potential. However, the extent to which intranasal oxytocin modulates functional connectivity network topology remains less explored, with inconsistent findings in the existing literature. To address this gap, we conducted an exploratory data-driven study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain Res
January 2025
Department of Orthopaedics of Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Children's Health, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address:
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) categorizes postpartum depression (PPD) as a subtype of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) with peripartum onset, generally arising within the initial trimester following delivery. This acute psychiatric condition is characterized by feelings of worthlessness, insomnia, extreme anxiety, or maternal neglect. Intranasal oxytocin (OT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have the potential to address impaired social cognition; nonetheless, their neuronal underpinnings, along with their safety and efficacy, are little comprehended.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Cogn Affect Neurosci
January 2025
School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
Oxytocin, a neuropeptide pivotal in social and reproductive behaviors, has recently gained attention for its potential impact on cognitive processes relevant to creativity. Yet, the direct intricate interplay between oxytocin and creativity, particularly in the context of individual differences in motivational orientations, remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin on creative thinking in individuals characterized by varying levels of approach and avoidance motivations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
January 2025
Department of Anesthesiology, People's Liberation Army The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Introduction: Patients undergoing surgical procedures are often prone to developing acute stress disorder (ASD) postoperatively. Presently, oxytocin nasal spray has shown significant potential in the treatment of stress-related neuropsychiatric diseases. However, there are few reports on the use of oxytocin nasal spray in postoperative ASD, a condition that can potentially develop into a high-risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Autism
December 2024
Department of Neurosciences, Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Background: Difficulties with (non-verbal) social communication, including facial expression processing, constitute a hallmark of autism. Intranasal administration of oxytocin has been considered a potential therapeutic option for improving social difficulties in autism, either by enhancing the salience of social cues or by reducing the social stress and anxiety experienced in social encounters.
Methods: We recorded fMRI brain activity while presenting neutral, fearful and scrambled faces, to compare the neural face processing signature of autistic children (n = 58) with that of matched non-autistic controls (n = 38).
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