Oxytocin Improves “Mind-Reading” in Humans

Domes, Gregor; Heinrichs, Markus; Meynier, André; Berger, Christoph; Herpertz, Sabine C.

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.015

Cited by 1,161 publications

(870 citation statements)

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“…The positive feedback mechanism of OT release plays a critical and physiological role in causing uterus contraction during labor and triggering milk release from the breast tissue when infants are nursed (Moos et al, 1984;Neumann et al, 1994 and1996). A recent series of studies showed that nasal infusion of OT increases trust (Kosfeld et al, 2005), mind-reading (Domes et al, 2007), and generosity (Zak et al, 2007) in humans,…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin-induced elevation of ADP-ribosyl cyclase activity, cyclic ADP-riboseor Ca2+ concentrations is involved in autoregulation of oxytocin secretionin the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary in male mice

et al. 2010

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin-induced elevation of ADP-ribosyl cyclase activity, cyclic ADP-riboseor Ca2+ concentrations is involved in autoregulation of oxytocin secretionin the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary in male mice

et al. 2010

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“…In humans, intranasal administration of OT has been shown to increase trust [7], facilitate mind-reading [8], enhance human memory for social identity [9], increase positive communication between couples [10], increase gaze to the eye region [11] and increase generosity [12]. Intriguingly, OT plasma levels have been linked to individual patterns of maternal-fetal attachment [13] and salivary OT levels were associated with bonding to own parents and inversely related to psychological distress, particularly depressive symptoms [14].…”

Section: Ot and Social Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Are retinoids potential therapeutic agents in disorders of social cognition including autism?

et al. 2011

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Edited by Sergio Papa, Gianfranco Gilardi and Wilhelm JustKeywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) CD38 Oxytocin Polymorphism a b s t r a c t Increasing evidence suggests that the nonapeptide, oxytocin (OT), helps shape social and affiliative behaviors not only in lower mammals but also in humans. Recently, an essential mediator of brain OT release has been discovered, ADP-ribosyl cyclase and/or CD38. We have subsequently shown that polymorphisms across the CD38 gene are associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Notably, CD38 expression in lymphoblastoid cells (LBC) is reduced in cell lines derived from ASD subjects compared to parental cell lines. Intriguingly, a correlation was observed between CD38 expression and measures of social function in ASD. Finally, we have shown that all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a known inducer of CD38 transcription, can rescue low CD38 expressing LBC lines derived from ASD subjects and restore normal levels of transcription of this ectoenzyme providing 'proof of principle' in a peripheral model that retinoids are potential therapeutic agents in ASD. Ó 2011 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. OxytocinClassically, the nonapeptide oxytocin (OT) has been viewed as a hypothalamic neuropeptide that is released into the general circulation from the neural lobe of the pituitary, inducing uterine contractions during parturition and milk ejection during lactation. OT is derived from a pre-prohormone precursor that is synthesized in the hypothalamus and stored in vesicles at the posterior pituitary for storage and subsequent release into the bloodstream (see [1] for comprehensive review of the oxytocin receptor system). OT and social behaviorBeyond the long-known peripheral effects of OT, a wealth of animal studies have elaborated the role of OT, or their analogues such as isotocin and vasotocin [2], in molding social behavior from fish to mammals [3]. In the past few years the role of OT has also been examined in our own species, and similar to what has been learned from animal studies, it appears that this nonapeptides also influence social behaviors in humans [4,5]. Indeed, OT has been suggested as the 'great facilitator of life' in a recent review [6].In humans, intranasal administration of OT has been shown to increase trust [7], facilitate mind-reading [8], enhance human memory for social identity [9], increase positive communication between couples [10], increase gaze to the eye region [11] and increase generosity [12]. Intriguingly, OT plasma levels have been linked to individual patterns of maternal-fetal attachment [13] and salivary OT levels were associated with bonding to own parents and inversely related to psychological distress, particularly depressive symptoms [14]. Social anxiety symptom severity, adjusted for age and gender in a healthy group of subjects, was associated with higher plasma oxytocin levels [15]. Imaging studies reinforce the role of OT in influencing human social ...

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“…It is noteworthy that OT administration did not significantly improve social perception, given previous literature suggesting that OT administration enhances the accuracy of social perception (e.g., Bartz et al, 2010a) and performance on the RMET in particular (Domes et al, 2007;Feeser et al, 2015;Guastella et al, 2010), a task we also examined here. However, the effects of OT administration on social perception (and many other outcomes) are often highly context dependent (for review see Bartz et al, 2011;Van IJzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Initial work on OT administration suggested that it may promote more positive social behavior, such as greater trust and generosity (Kosfeld et al, 2005;Zak et al, 2007), and more accurate social perception (Bartz et al, 2010a;Domes et al, 2007;Guastella et al, 2010). There has been less examination of the effects of OT on cognitive processes, but one study found that OT administration promoted greater holistic thinking and creative performance, but decreased analytical reasoning (De Dreu et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is likely in part because the statistical power of OT administration studies tends to be very low and there are likely publication and reporting biases within the field (Lane et al, 2016;Walum et al, 2016), but may also be in part because the effects of OT administration may be highly context-dependent (Bartz et al, 2011;Bakermans-Kranenburg and Van IJzendoorn, 2013;Guastella and MacLeod, 2012;Van IJzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012). For example, OT administration has been shown to selectively improve the accuracy of social perception for men who are less socially proficient (Bartz et al, 2010a) and on more difficult social perception items (Domes et al, 2007). There is also evidence that OT administration is more beneficial for people with alexithymia (Luminet et al, 2011), autism and Asperger's disorders (Andari et al, 2010;Guastella et al, 2010;Hollander et al, 2007), and schizophrenia (Woolley et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Combining oxytocin administration and positive emotion inductions: Examining social perception and analytical performance

Human

Thorson

Woolley

et al. 2017

Hormones and Behavior

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oIntranasal administration of the hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has, in some studies, been associated with positive effects on social perception and cognition. Similarly, positive emotion inductions can improve a range of perceptual and performance-based behaviors. In this exploratory study, we examined how OT administration and positive emotion inductions interact in their associations with social and analytical performance. Participants (N = 124) were randomly assigned to receive an intranasal spray of OT (40 IU) or placebo and then viewed one of three videos designed to engender one of the following emotion states: social warmth, pride, or an affectively neutral state. Following the emotion induction, participants completed social perception and analytical tasks. There were no significant main effects of OT condition on social perception tasks, failing to replicate prior research, or on analytical performance. Further, OT condition and positive emotion inductions did not interact with each other in their associations with social perception performance. However, OT condition and positive emotion manipulations did significantly interact in their associations with analytical performance. Specifically, combining positive emotion inductions with OT administration was associated with worse analytical performance, with the pride induction no longer benefiting performance and the warmth induction resulting in worse performance. In sum, we found little evidence for main or interactive effects of OT on social perception but preliminary evidence that OT administration may impair analytical performance when paired with positive emotion inductions.

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Oxytocin Improves “Mind-Reading” in Humans

Cited by 1,161 publications

References 31 publications

Oxytocin-induced elevation of ADP-ribosyl cyclase activity, cyclic ADP-riboseor Ca2+ concentrations is involved in autoregulation of oxytocin secretionin the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary in male mice

Oxytocin-induced elevation of ADP-ribosyl cyclase activity, cyclic ADP-riboseor Ca2+ concentrations is involved in autoregulation of oxytocin secretionin the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary in male mice

Are retinoids potential therapeutic agents in disorders of social cognition including autism?

Combining oxytocin administration and positive emotion inductions: Examining social perception and analytical performance

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