In Search of an Adult Attachment Stress Provocation to Measure Effect on the Oxytocin System

Munro, Michelle L.; Brown, Stephanie L.; Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Hossein; Carter, C. Sue; Lopez, William D.; Seng, Julia S.

doi:10.1177/1078390313492173

Cited by 15 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…In contrast, a study carried out by this work group found pronounced OXT increases in schizophrenia patients, but not in healthy controls after exposure to children's movie scenes of attachment and loss [30]. Results of this study [30] also confirm that movie clips are a highly effective tool to elicit emotions and empathy in patients with schizophrenia as in other population [31], although few studies have examined the OXT response to emotional videos in non-clinical [32][33][34][35] or clinical populations [30] and show overall inconclusive results. In healthy women, a decrease of OXT after positive and unchanged OXT levels after negative emotions could be observed [32].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 51%

“…Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that there is no established standard protocol in the measurement of OXT after viewing movie clips in German language. The experimental setup was based on the few other studies that have investigated OXT response to video-based or real-life stimuli [29,33,35]. Nonetheless, a systematic understanding of the physiological OXT response to emotional stimuli in healthy adults is still lacking, and it could be argued that introducing a new paradigm to compare patients with controls might lead to a reduced interpretability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In healthy women, a decrease of OXT after positive and unchanged OXT levels after negative emotions could be observed [32]. In contrast, a modest rise of plasma OXT levels in females with schizophrenia during a film's bonding scene, but its significant decrease during an abandonment scene was reported [33]. Watching a father talk about the terminal illness of his son lead to increased peripheral OXT concentrations in healthy adults [34,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Peripheral oxytocin is inversely correlated with cognitive, but not emotional empathy in schizophrenia

et al. 2020

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Endogenous oxytocin has been associated with different aspects of social cognition in healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia. In this pilot study, we investigated the relationship between plasma oxytocin and oxytocin level changes induced by empathy-eliciting, attachment-related movie scenes with correlates of cognitive and emotional empathy in patients and healthy controls. The Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were administered to patients with schizophrenia (N = 35, 12 females) and healthy controls (N = 35, 12 females) to estimate dimensions of cognitive and emotional empathy. Peripheral basal oxytocin concentrations and oxytocin responses to movie-based emotional stimuli were assessed using radioimmunoassay with sample extraction. In patients, induced oxytocin level changes were inversely correlated with MET cognitive empathy regarding negative emotional states. Controlling for non-social cognition and age revealed a significant negative association between basal oxytocin levels and MET cognitive empathy for positive emotions. In healthy subjects, oxytocin reactivity was inversely correlated with the IRI subscale "fantasy". Oxytocin was not related to any measure of emotional empathy. A hyper-reactive oxytocin system might be linked to impaired cognitive empathy as a part of a dysfunctional regulative circuit of attachment-related emotions and interpersonal stressors or threats by attribution of meaning. Healthy adults with a disposition to identify with fictional characters showed lower oxytocin reactivity, possibly indicating familiarity with movie-based stimuli. The oxytocinergic system may be involved in maladaptive coping mechanisms in the framework of impaired mentalizing and associated dysfunctional responses to interpersonal challenges in schizophrenia.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Peripheral oxytocin is inversely correlated with cognitive, but not emotional empathy in schizophrenia

et al. 2020

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“…Oxytocin has also been shown to stimulate Cox-2, an enzyme that has been linked to an increased risk for cancer (Bakhle, 2001), in the uterine tissue of pregnant cows (Fuchs, Rust, & Fields, 1999). Evidence that oxytocin may be related to the etiology of mental health problems and disease comes from studies that show a correlation between circulating levels of oxytocin and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and disassociation in humans Munro, et al, 2013). And, postmortem brain levels of oxytocin show that OT is substantially elevated in the hippocampus of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease (Mazurek, Flint, Beal, & Martin, 1987).…”

Section: Hormonal Influences On Stress Immune Function and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Connecting prosocial behavior to improved physical health: Contributions from the neurobiology of parenting

Brown¹,

Brown²

2015

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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159

124

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Although a growing body of evidence suggests that giving to (helping) others is linked reliably to better health and longevity for the helper, little is known about causal mechanisms. In the present paper we use a recently developed model of caregiving motivation to identify possible neurophysiological mechanisms. The model describes a mammalian neurohormonal system that evolved to regulate maternal care, but over time may have been recruited to support a wide variety of helping behaviors in humans and other social animals. According to the model, perception of need or distress in others activates caregiving motivation, which in turn, can facilitate helping behavior. Motivational regulation is governed by the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus, interacting with certain other brain regions, hormones, and neuromodulators (especially oxytocin and progesterone). Consideration of neurohormonal circuitry and related evidence raises the possibility that it is these hormones, known to have stress-buffering and restorative properties, that are responsible, at least in part, for health and longevity benefits associated with helping others.

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“…A recent pilot study ( n = 14) used film clips of bonding or abandonment scenes to investigate OT plasma levels as a potential biomarker for alterations in the female attachment system. While lower OT plasma levels during abandonment scenes were positively correlated with posttraumatic stress symptoms, higher OT plasma levels during bonding scenes were negatively correlated with scores of dissociation and somatization ( Munro et al, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower Oxytocin Plasma Levels in Borderline Patients with Unresolved Attachment Representations

Jobst

Padberg

Mauer

et al. 2016

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Interpersonal problems and affective dysregulation are core characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD patients predominantly show unresolved attachment representations. The oxytocin (OT) system is associated with human social attachment and affiliative behavior, and OT dysregulation may be related to distinct attachment characteristics. Here, we investigated whether attachment representations are related to peripheral OT levels in BPD patients. Twenty-one female BPD patients and 20 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with clinical scales and measures of interpersonal and attachment-related characteristics, including the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). Plasma OT concentrations were measured prior to and during social exclusion in a virtual ball tossing game (Cyberball). The majority of BPD patients (63.2%) but no HCs showed unresolved (disorganized) attachment representations. In this subgroup of patients, baseline OT plasma levels were significantly lower than in BPD patients with organized attachment representations. This pilot study extends previous findings of altered OT regulation in BPD as a putative key mechanism underlying interpersonal dysregulation. Our results provide first evidence that altered OT plasma levels are related to disorganized attachment representations in BPD patients.

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In Search of an Adult Attachment Stress Provocation to Measure Effect on the Oxytocin System

Cited by 15 publications

References 51 publications

Peripheral oxytocin is inversely correlated with cognitive, but not emotional empathy in schizophrenia

Peripheral oxytocin is inversely correlated with cognitive, but not emotional empathy in schizophrenia

Connecting prosocial behavior to improved physical health: Contributions from the neurobiology of parenting

Lower Oxytocin Plasma Levels in Borderline Patients with Unresolved Attachment Representations

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