Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception

The neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in social cognition and behavior. A number of studies using intranasal administration have demonstrated that oxytocin improves social perception. However, little is known about the relationship between individual differences in endogenous levels of oxy...

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Main Authors:	Lancaster, Katie, Carter, C. Sue, Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Hossein, Karaoli, Themistoclis, Lillard, Travis S., Jack, Allison, Davis, John M., Morris, James P., Connelly, Jessica J.
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362216/

id	pubmed-4362216
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-43622162015-04-07 Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception Lancaster, Katie Carter, C. Sue Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Hossein Karaoli, Themistoclis Lillard, Travis S. Jack, Allison Davis, John M. Morris, James P. Connelly, Jessica J. Neuroscience The neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in social cognition and behavior. A number of studies using intranasal administration have demonstrated that oxytocin improves social perception. However, little is known about the relationship between individual differences in endogenous levels of oxytocin and social cognition. In the current study, we assessed the relationship between endogenous oxytocin and brain activity during an animacy perception paradigm. Thirty-seven male participants underwent scanning and provided a blood sample for oxytocin analysis. In line with previous research, perception of animacy was associated with activations in superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Notably, participants’ levels of plasma oxytocin robustly predicted activation in areas critical for social cognitive processes, such that higher oxytocin levels were related to increased activity in dorsal mPFC, ventral mPFC, dorsolateral PFC, superior temporal gyrus, and temporoparietal junction (TPJ), suggesting differential processing of social stimuli. Together these results show that stable variations in endogenous oxytocin levels explain individual differences in social perception. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-03-17 /pmc/articles/PMC4362216/ /pubmed/25852519 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00132 Text en Copyright © 2015 Lancaster, Carter, Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Karaoli, Lillard, Jack, Davis, Morris and Connelly. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution and reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Lancaster, Katie Carter, C. Sue Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Hossein Karaoli, Themistoclis Lillard, Travis S. Jack, Allison Davis, John M. Morris, James P. Connelly, Jessica J.
spellingShingle	Lancaster, Katie Carter, C. Sue Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Hossein Karaoli, Themistoclis Lillard, Travis S. Jack, Allison Davis, John M. Morris, James P. Connelly, Jessica J. Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
author_facet	Lancaster, Katie Carter, C. Sue Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Hossein Karaoli, Themistoclis Lillard, Travis S. Jack, Allison Davis, John M. Morris, James P. Connelly, Jessica J.
author_sort	Lancaster, Katie
title	Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
title_short	Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
title_full	Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
title_fullStr	Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
title_full_unstemmed	Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
title_sort	plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception
description	The neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in social cognition and behavior. A number of studies using intranasal administration have demonstrated that oxytocin improves social perception. However, little is known about the relationship between individual differences in endogenous levels of oxytocin and social cognition. In the current study, we assessed the relationship between endogenous oxytocin and brain activity during an animacy perception paradigm. Thirty-seven male participants underwent scanning and provided a blood sample for oxytocin analysis. In line with previous research, perception of animacy was associated with activations in superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Notably, participants’ levels of plasma oxytocin robustly predicted activation in areas critical for social cognitive processes, such that higher oxytocin levels were related to increased activity in dorsal mPFC, ventral mPFC, dorsolateral PFC, superior temporal gyrus, and temporoparietal junction (TPJ), suggesting differential processing of social stimuli. Together these results show that stable variations in endogenous oxytocin levels explain individual differences in social perception.
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2015
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362216/
_version_	1613199540623507456

Plasma oxytocin explains individual differences in neural substrates of social perception

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