Logo image
Back
Intranasal oxytocin reduces social perception in women: Neural activation and individual variation
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Intranasal oxytocin reduces social perception in women: Neural activation and individual variation

Erin E Hecht, Diana L Robins, Pritam Gautam and Tricia Z King
NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.), v 147, pp 314-329
15 Feb 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.12.046
PMID: 27989775
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Brain - diagnostic imaging Oxytocin - pharmacology Visual Perception - physiology Brain - anatomy & histology Double-Blind Method Visual Cortex - diagnostic imaging Humans Functional Neuroimaging - methods Visual Pathways - diagnostic imaging Administration, Intranasal Brain - physiology Visual Cortex - physiology Young Adult Magnetic Resonance Imaging Oxytocin - administration & dosage Visual Pathways - physiology Visual Pathways - drug effects Social Perception Neurotransmitter Agents - pharmacology Adult Female Neurotransmitter Agents - administration & dosage Visual Cortex - drug effects
Most intranasal oxytocin research to date has been carried out in men, but recent studies indicate that females' responses can differ substantially from males'. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved an all-female sample of 28 women not using hormonal contraception. Participants viewed animations of geometric shapes depicting either random movement or social interactions such as playing, chasing, or fighting. Probe questions asked whether any shapes were "friends" or "not friends." Social videos were preceded by cues to attend to either social relationships or physical size changes. All subjects received intranasal placebo spray at scan 1. While the experimenter was not blinded to nasal spray contents at Scan 1, the participants were. Scan 2 followed a randomized, double-blind design. At scan 2, half received a second placebo dose while the other half received 24 IU of intranasal oxytocin. We measured neural responses to these animations at baseline, as well as the change in neural activity induced by oxytocin. Oxytocin reduced activation in early visual cortex and dorsal-stream motion processing regions for the social > size contrast, indicating reduced activity related to social attention. Oxytocin also reduced endorsements that shapes were "friends" or "not friends," and this significantly correlated with reduction in neural activation. Furthermore, participants who perceived fewer social relationships at baseline were more likely to show oxytocin-induced increases in a broad network of regions involved in social perception and social cognition, suggesting that lower social processing at baseline may predict more positive neural responses to oxytocin.

Metrics

13 Record Views
21 citations in Web of Science
21 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Neuroimaging
Neurosciences
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Logo image