Oxytocin modulates social value representations in the amygdala

Abstract

Humans exhibit considerable variation in how they value their own interest relative to the interests of others. Deciphering the neural codes representing potential rewards for self and others is crucial for understanding social decision-making. Here we integrate computational modeling with fMRI to investigate the neural representation of social value and the modulation by oxytocin, a nine-amino acid neuropeptide, in participants evaluating monetary allocations to self and other (self-other allocations). We found that an individual's preferred self-other allocation serves as a reference-point for computing the value of potential self-other allocations. In more-prosocial participants, amygdala activity encoded a social-value-distance signal, i.e. the value dissimilarity between potential and preferred allocations. Intranasal oxytocin administration amplified this amygdala representation and increased prosocial behavior in more-individualist participants but not in more-prosocial ones. Our results reveal a neurocomputational mechanism underlying social-value representations and suggest that oxytocin may promote prosociality by modulating social-value representations in the amygdala.

Oxytocin facilitates valence-dependent valuation of social evaluation of the self

“…All participants were healthy, right-handed, free of current or a history of neurological or psychiatric disorders, and had normal or corrected-to-normal vision. Given that previous studies reported sex differences in oxytocin effects on social cognition and behavior 26,55,56 , similar to most previous oxytocin studies 23,60,61 , we only recruited male participants for the current oxytocin experiments (i.e., Exp. 4 and 5).…”

“…Finally, we aim to reveal the molecular substrates modulating the subjective value placed on evaluation. Oxytocin is of particular interest in the current study as oxytocin has been linked to social feedback learning and valuation processes 22,23 . Specifically, intranasal administration of oxytocin increased the learning of positive social feedback and decreased the learning of negative feedback.…”

“…Moreover, we examined individual differences in oxytocin effect on the valuation of social feedback. It has been suggested that oxytocin effect is sensitive to individual differences 23,25,26 , with a stronger oxytocin effect on less socially adapted individuals 26 , such as individuals who scored high in depression or anxiety 22,27 . It has also been shown that depressive individuals are characterized by a negative bias 28,29 and reduced learning of positive social feedback 30 .…”

Pay to know me in your eyes: A computational account and oxytocin modulation of social evaluation

“…Approximately 35 min before the main pay-to-know choice task, participants intranasally self-administered a single dose of 24 IU oxytocin or placebo (containing the active ingredients except for the neuropeptide) under an experimenter’s supervision. The procedure of oxytocin and placebo administration was similar to that used in the previous work that showed reliable effects of oxytocin on social cognition and behaviors 22,23,62 . The spray was administered to participants three times, with each administration consisting of one inhalation of 4 IU into each nostril.…”

“…The spray was administered to participants three times, with each administration consisting of one inhalation of 4 IU into each nostril. A 24 IU dose of oxytocin, commonly used in the oxytocin literature 23,63 , was employed in the current study because it has been recently shown to produce more pronounced effects (than 12 or 48 IU) on socio-affective processing, as well as on plasma and saliva oxytocin levels 64 .…”