Oxytocin receptor genetic variation relates to empathy and stress reactivity in humans

Abstract

Oxytocin, a peptide that functions as both a hormone and neurotransmitter, has broad influences on social and emotional processing throughout the body and the brain. In this study, we tested how a polymorphism (rs53576) of the oxytocin receptor relates to two key social processes related to oxytocin: empathy and stress reactivity. Compared with individuals homozygous for the G allele of rs53576 (GG), individuals with one or two copies of the A allele (AG/AA) exhibited lower behavioral and dispositional empathy, as measured by the ''Reading the Mind in the Eyes'' Test and an other-oriented empathy scale. Furthermore, AA/AG individuals displayed higher physiological and dispositional stress reactivity than GG individuals, as determined by heart rate response during a startle anticipation task and an affective reactivity scale. Our results provide evidence of how a naturally occurring genetic variation of the oxytocin receptor relates to both empathy and stress profiles.emotional ͉ polymorphism ͉ social

Helping hands, healthy body? Oxytocin receptor gene and prosocial behavior interact to buffer the association between stress and physical health

“…This interaction was not significant (p = .20), indicating no ethnic differences in the stress-buffering role of OXTR rs53576; moreover, the magnitude of the OXTR GG × stress interaction was very similar between Caucasians (IRR = 0.91) and those of other ethnic groups (IRR = 0.87). While prior research on OXTR rs53576 has found no sex differences (e.g., Poulin et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2009), female sex was a significant covariate in our analyses (see Table 1) and oxytocin is associated with many female-specific functions such as childbirth and lactation (Carter, 1998). Therefore, a second follow-up analysis examined whether the stress-buffering role of OXTR rs53576 differed between males and females.…”

“…Ideally, future work could examine proximal as well as distal indicators of oxytocin function and health, not all of which share this limitation, such as peripheral oxytocin assessment (e.g., Gouin et al, 2010). Finally, it was beyond the scope of the present research to examine the physiological mechanisms (e.g., modulated HPA axis and cardiovascular stress reactivity) by which charitable behavior and oxytocin might buffer the impact of stressful events (Chen et al, 2011;Norman et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2009). Future research should examine whether the OXTR rs53576 SNP and prosocial behavior interact in a compensatory manner to buffer physiologic markers of stress, and if so, whether these effects can predict health outcomes.…”

“…In both humans and non-human mammals, oxytocin plays a prominent role in motivating parental care (Campbell, 2010;Carter, 1998;Feldman, 2012). Oxytocin also has stress-buffering effects, moderating neural and behavioral responses to negative stimuli (Campbell 2010;Kirsch et al, 2005;Poulin et al, 2012) as well as modulating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and cardiovascular stress reactivity (Chen et al, 2011;Norman et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2009). Higher blood levels of oxytocin have even been found to predict faster healing time of lab-induced wounds (Gouin et al, 2010).…”

“…Within the OXTR gene, the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs53576 has been shown to predict both stress-buffering and prosocial behavior, with the "GG" genotype, in particular, appearing to indicate greater inclination for engaging in beneficial psychological and social behaviors associated with oxytocin (Bakermans-Kranenburg and van Ijzendoorn, 2008;Rodrigues et al, 2009;Tost et al, 2010). Moreover, although the exact role of rs53576 "G" and "A" alleles remains unclear, the risk allele (A) has been associated with risk allele-load dependent decreases in hypothalamic size and amygdalar activation (Tost et al, 2010), suggesting that risk for psychosocial dysfunction increases in the presence of an "A" allele.…”

“…It was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (X 2 [1] = 0.1, p > .05) with no genotype-by-sex differences (X 2 [2] = 1.32, p = .52) or genotype-by-ethnicity differences (X 2 [6] = 7.22, p = .30). We followed the same grouping strategy used in prior studies addressing genotype-related psychological and social phenotypes-GG respondents were compared to individuals carrying a high risk A allele (GG = 1, AA/AG = 0) (e.g., Poulin et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2009;Tost et al, 2010). This approach maintains consistency with prior studies and ensures sufficient statistical power to detect differences related to the high risk A allele.…”