Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene is associated with behavioral and neural correlates of empathic accuracy

Abstract

The neuromodulators oxytocin and serotonin have been implicated in regulating affective processes underlying empathy. Understanding this dependency, however, has been limited by a lack of objective metrics for measuring empathic performance. Here we employ a novel psychophysical method for measuring empathic performance that quantitatively measures the ability of subjects to decode the experience of another person's pain. In 50 female subjects, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging data as they were exposed to a target subject experiencing variable degrees of pain, whilst performing an irrelevant attention-demanding task. We investigated the effect of variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) on the psychophysical and neurometric variability associated with empathic performance. The OXTR rs2268498 and rs53576 polymorphisms, but not the SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR, were associated with significant differences in empathic accuracy, with CC- and AA-carriers, respectively, displaying higher empathic accuracy. For OXTR rs2268498 there was also a genotype difference in the correlation between empathic accuracy and activity in the superior temporal sulcus (STS). In OXTR rs2268498 CC-carriers, high empathic accuracy was associated with stronger responsiveness of the right STS to the observed pain. Together, the results show that genetic variation in the OXTR has significant influence on empathic accuracy and that this may be linked to variable responsivity of the STS.

Oxytocin and vasotocin receptor variation sheds light into the evolution of human prosociality

“…Alleles of rs53576 have been reported in several studies: the G allele has been reported to be implicated in Bullimia Nerviosa 73 , but also in diminished stress after social support 74 , adult separation anxiety 75 , oxytocin sensitivity in social cooperation settings (increased in males, decreased in females) 76 , overall weak social cognition skills in ADHD patients 25 and facial recognition deficits 53 . MHS rs53576(A) might be involved in AS 27, 45 , higher empathic performanc 77, 78 and social connectedness in women 31 , but also lower psychological resources such as self-esteem, optimism and emotional mastery 79 . Though the literature on rs53576 doesn’t provide unequivocal results, there seems to be consensus on this SNP being dependent on environmental factors: the G allele appears to affect social sensitivity; adverse life conditions can lead to negative (non-prosocial) behavior in G carriers, but the opposite effect has also been reported 80 .…”

Oxytocin: Parallel Processing in the Social Brain?

“…Polymorphisms in the OXTR gene have also been differentially correlated with emotional (209)(210)(211)(212) or cognitive (209,210,(213)(214)(215), empathy. Although these findings suggest the possibility that both types of empathy are regulated by OT, they must be viewed with caution because, as noted above, a recent meta-analysis has found that OXTR polymorphisms failed to explain a significant part of human social behaviour (77).…”

Change in Objective Measure of Empathic Accuracy Following Social Cognitive Training

“…There is evidence that impairments in empathy within these groups have a significant influence on the individual's social and community function, beyond the effects of general cognition or symptoms (17,18). Empathy is partially heritable (19) and variance in empathic performance has been linked to polymorphisms of the oxytocin receptor gene (20)(21)(22). However, developmental effects on empathy are profound in early childhood and adolescence (23,24) and are dependent on environmental and experiential factors like family environment, maternal synchrony and mimicry (25)(26)(27).…”