Oxytocin and social cognition in affective and psychotic disorders

Abstract

Impairments in social cognition are now recognized as core illness features in psychotic and affective disorders. Despite the significant disability caused by social cognitive abnormalities, treatments for this symptom dimension are lacking. Here, we describe the evidence demonstrating abnormalities in social cognition in schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder, as well as the neurobiology of social cognition including the role of oxytocin. We then review clinical trials of oxytocin administration in psychotic and affective disorders and the impact of this agent on social cognition. To date, several studies have demonstrated that oxytocin may improve social cognition in schizophrenia; too few studies have been conducted in affective disorders to determine the effect of oxytocin on social cognition in these disorders. Future work is needed to clarify which aspects of social cognition may be improved with oxytocin treatment in psychotic and affective disorders.

Distinct oxytocin effects on belief updating in response to desirable and undesirable feedback

“…IN-OT also benefits individuals with mental disorders, such as anxiety disorder (51), autism (52), and depression (24,25). The social adaption model of OT function proposed stronger OT effect on social processes in less socially adapted individuals (5).…”

“…The finding that IN-OT normalized the hyperupdates upon undesirable feedback in less-adapted individuals has important clinical implications for OT treatment in depression, which is characterized by the lack of optimistic updating (2,20). Although IN-OT has been applied to depression in a few clinical trials (24,25), the cognitive mechanisms underlying the potential therapeutic effect of OT in depressed patients remain unclear. Our findings suggest a potential cognitive mechanism through which IN-OT ameliorates pessimism in depression.…”

“…23). Moreover, IN-OT has been recently used in the treatment for depressive patients (24,25)-a population characterized by the absence of optimistic belief updating (20). There has been evidence that optimistic updating serves as an advantageous mechanism for individuals' social adaptation.…”

Oxytocin and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia: comparison with healthy siblings and healthy controls

“…Numerous studies have shown impaired social cognition in SCH [37][38][39] and unaffected first-degree relatives also seem to be impaired, albeit to a lesser extent [40]. In a meta-analysis, Kohler et al have found that patients with SCH were seriously unsuccessful compared to healthy participants in emotion detection tasks [41]. Eack et al have identified similar impairment in emotion recognition in patients with SCH and their first-degree relatives [42].…”

The comparison of executive functions, social cognition and plasma oxytocin level between mothers of schizophrenia patients and healthy control: Searching for a new endophenotype

“…17 Hem şizofreni hastalarıyla, hem de sağlıklı insanlarla yapılan çalışmalarda bu hormonun sosyal girişkenliği artırdığı, antianksiyete etkisinin olduğu, sosyal bilişsel kapasite ve yürütücü işlev performansını artırabildiği gösterilmiştir. [18][19][20][21] Bu açıdan bakıldığında, OT hormonunun endofenotip olarak kabul edilen bilişsel yetilerle birlikte değerlendirilmesi, mevcut endofenotiplerin daha da özgülleşmesini sağla-yarak gelecek endofenotip araştırmalarında daha net verilerin ortaya konmasına öncülük edebilir. Literatürde OT hormonunun endofenotip olarak ele alındığı bir çalışmaya rastlanmamıştır.…”