Oxytocin Attenuates Amygdala Responses to Emotional Faces Regardless of Valence
Biological PsychiatryPublished 10 July 2007
Gregor Domes, Markus Heinrichs, Jan Gläscher, Christian Büchel, Dieter F. Braus, Sabine C. Herpertz
Citations781
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score4.68
SNIP2.24
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
A modulatory role of oxytocin on amygdala responses to facial expressions irrespective of their valence is suggested, which might reflect reduced uncertainty about the predictive value of a social stimulus and thereby facilitates social approach behavior.
Abstract
Results suggest a modulatory role of oxytocin on amygdala responses to facial expressions irrespective of their valence. Reduction of amygdala activity to positive and negative stimuli might reflect reduced uncertainty about the predictive value of a social stimulus and thereby facilitates social approach behavior.
Keywords
PsychologyHealth Professions
NeuroImageAutomated Anatomical Labeling of Activations in SPM Using a Macroscopic Anatomical Parcellation of the MNI MRI Single-Subject Brain
16,817 Citations2002N. Tzourio-Mazoyer, Brigitte Landeau +6 more
An anatomical parcellation of the spatially normalized single-subject high-resolution T1 volume provided by the Montreal Neurological Institute was performed and it is believed that this tool is an improvement for the macroscopical labeling of activated area compared to labeling assessed using the Talairach atlas brain.
Trends in Cognitive SciencesThe distributed human neural system for face perception
4,950 Citations2000J.V. Haxby, James V. Haxby +2 more
A model for the organization of this system that emphasizes a distinction between the representation of invariant and changeable aspects of faces is proposed and is hierarchical insofar as it is divided into a core system and an extended system.
NatureOxytocin increases trust in humans
3,680 Citations2005Michael Kosfeld, Markus Heinrichs +3 more
It is shown that intranasal administration of oxytocin, a neuropeptide that plays a key role in social attachment and affiliation in non-human mammals, causes a substantial increase in trust among humans, thereby greatly increasing the benefits from social interactions.
NeuroImageFunctional Neuroanatomy of Emotion: A Meta-Analysis of Emotion Activation Studies in PET and fMRI
3,490 Citations2002K. Luan Phan, Tor D. Wager +2 more
A critical comparison of findings across individual studies is provided and suggests that separate brain regions are involved in different aspects of emotion.
Molecular PsychiatryThe amygdala: vigilance and emotion
2,867 Citations2000Michael Davis, Paul J. Whalen
A review of available studies examining the human amygdala covers both lesion and electrical stimulation studies as well as the most recent functional neuroimaging studies, and attempts to integrate basic information on normal amygdala function with the current understanding of psychiatric disorders, including pathological anxiety.
Journal of NeuroscienceMasked Presentations of Emotional Facial Expressions Modulate Amygdala Activity without Explicit Knowledge
2,219 Citations1998Paul J. Whalen, Scott L. Rauch +4 more
This study, using fMRI in conjunction with masked stimulus presentations, represents an initial step toward determining the role of the amygdala in nonconscious processing.
Biological PsychiatrySocial support and oxytocin interact to suppress cortisol and subjective responses to psychosocial stress
2,053 Citations2003Markus Heinrichs, Thomas Baumgärtner +2 more
Oxytocin seems to enhance the buffering effect of social support on stress responsiveness, concur with data from animal research suggesting an important role of oxytocin as an underlying biological mechanism for stress-protective effects of positive social interactions.
Journal of NeuroscienceOxytocin Modulates Neural Circuitry for Social Cognition and Fear in Humans
1,652 Citations2005Peter Kirsch, Christine Esslinger +8 more
It is shown that human amygdala function is strongly modulated by oxytocin, and this results indicate a neural mechanism for the effects of Oxytocin in social cognition in the human brain and provide a methodology and rationale for exploring therapeutic strategies in disorders in which abnormal amygdala function has been implicated, such as social phobia or autism.
Nature NeuroscienceThe neurobiology of pair bonding
1,523 Citations2004Larry J. Young, Zuoxin Wang
Differential regulation of neuropeptide receptor expression may explain species differences in the ability to form pair bonds and have intriguing implications for the neurobiology of social attachment in the authors' own species.
Nature NeuroscienceGaze fixation and the neural circuitry of face processing in autism
1,448 Citations2005Kim M. Dalton, Brendon M. Nacewicz +6 more
Variation in eye fixation within autistic individuals was strongly and positively associated with amygdala activation across both studies, suggesting a heightened emotional response associated with gaze fixation in autism.
ScienceNeural Systems Responding to Degrees of Uncertainty in Human Decision-Making
1,430 Citations2005Ming Hsu, Meghana Bhatt +3 more
Using functional brain imaging, it is shown that the level of ambiguity in choices correlates positively with activation in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, and negatively with the striatal system, suggesting a general neural circuit responding to degrees of uncertainty, contrary to decision theory.
PsychoneuroendocrinologyNEUROENDOCRINE PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL ATTACHMENT AND LOVE
1,420 Citations1998C Sue Carter
A review of existing behavioral and neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love reveals a recurrent association between high levels of activity in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and the subsequent expression of social behaviors and attachments.
Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience ReviewsRecognizing Emotion from Facial Expressions: Psychological and Neurological Mechanisms
1,413 Citations2002Ralph Adolphs
Investigations are being extended to nonhuman primates, to infants, and to patients with psychiatric disorders, to elucidate some of the mechanisms behind recognition of emotion from facial expressions.
Nature NeuroscienceSniffing neuropeptides: a transnasal approach to the human brain
1,301 Citations2002Jan Born, Tanja Lange +4 more
Three peptides were administered intranasally and found that they achieved direct access to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within 30 minutes, bypassing the bloodstream.
BrainA neuromodulatory role for the human amygdala in processing emotional facial expressions
1,300 Citations1998J. P. Morris
Functional neuroimaging confirmed that the amygdala and some of its functionally connected structures mediate specific neural responses to fearful expressions and demonstrated that amygdalar responses predict expression-specific neural activity in extrastriate cortex.
Biological PsychiatryOxytocin Improves “Mind-Reading” in Humans
1,291 Citations2006Gregor Domes, Markus Heinrichs +3 more
Oxytocin improves the ability to infer the mental state of others from social cues of the eye region, and might play a role in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder, which is characterized by severe social impairment.
Journal of NeuroscienceOxytocin in the Medial Amygdala is Essential for Social Recognition in the Mouse
1,055 Citations2001Jennifer N. Ferguson, J. Matthew Aldag +2 more
It is demonstrated that OT acts in the medial amygdala during the initial exposure to facilitate social recognition in the mouse, and OT given before, but not after, the initial encounter restores social Recognition in OT knock-out mice.
Frontiers in NeuroendocrinologyVasopressin and oxytocin release within the brain: a dynamic concept of multiple and variable modes of neuropeptide communication
1,041 Citations2004Rainer Landgraf, Inga D. Neumann
This concept considers neuropeptides in the extracellular fluid of the brain rather than those in the cerebrospinal fluid or plasma as primary signals, triggering a variety of receptor-mediated effects, including those underlying behavioral and neuroendocrine regulation and psychopathology.
ScienceVasopressin and Oxytocin Excite Distinct Neuronal Populations in the Central Amygdala
804 Citations2005Daniel Huber, Pierre Veinante +1 more
This work identified two neuronal populations in the central amygdala as part of an inhibitory network, through which vasopressin and oxytocin modulate the integration of excitatory information from the basolateral amygdala and cerebral cortex in opposite manners.
ScienceOxytocin Induces Maternal Behavior in Virgin Female Rats
775 Citations1982Cort A. Pedersen, John A. Ascher +2 more
It is suggested that the release of oxytocin and prostaglandin F2 alpha during labor may promote maternal behavior in rats and this behavior persisted and its incidence was dose-related.
EndocrinologyCentral Oxytocin Administration Reduces Stress-Induced Corticosterone Release and Anxiety Behavior in Rats<sup>1</sup>
658 Citations1997Richard Windle, Nola Shanks +2 more
Biological PsychiatryAssociation between Amygdala Hyperactivity to Harsh Faces and Severity of Social Anxiety in Generalized Social Phobia
536 Citations2005K. Luan Phan, Daniel A. Fitzgerald +2 more
The findings suggest that amygdala activation to interpersonal threat can be specifically linked to the severity of social anxiety symptoms of individual GSP patients, and thus, may serve as a useful functional marker of disease severity.
Biological PsychiatryEvidence of abnormal amygdala functioning in borderline personality disorder: a functional MRI study
511 Citations2001Sabine C. Herpertz, Thomas Dietrich +6 more
Enhanced amygdala activation in BPD is suggested to reflect the intense and slowly subsiding emotions commonly observed in response to even low-level stressors.
Frontiers in NeuroendocrinologyThe Neuroendocrine Basis of Social Recognition
494 Citations2002Jennifer N. Ferguson, Larry J. Young +1 more
The social recognition deficits seen in oxytocin knockout mice have now been demonstrated in both males and females, as well as in female estrogen receptor knockout mice.
Journal of NeuroscienceCNS Region-Specific Oxytocin Receptor Expression: Importance in Regulation of Anxiety and Sex Behavior
444 Citations2001Tracy L. Bale, Aline M. Davis +3 more
Brain region-specific regulation of the OTR is identified in the VMH and cAmyg, indicating that distinct signal transduction pathways regulating receptor expression and binding in each brain region may mediate the ability of oxytocin to exert differential behavioral effects.
NeuroImageBeyond threat: Amygdala reactivity across multiple expressions of facial affect
427 Citations2005Daniel A. Fitzgerald, Mike Angstadt +3 more
It is suggested that the amygdala may have a more general-purpose function in processing salient information from faces and its response was not selective for any particular emotion category.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & MetabolismEffects of Suckling on Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Responses to Psychosocial Stress in Postpartum Lactating Women
381 Citations2001Markus Heinrichs, Gunther Meinlschmidt +5 more
It is concluded that lactation in women, in contrast to that in rats, does not result in a general restraint of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to a psychosocial stressor, and suckling is suggested to exert a short-term suppression of the cortisol response to mental stress.
Regulatory PeptidesBrain oxytocin inhibits the (re)activity of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis in male rats: involvement of hypothalamic and limbic brain regions
278 Citations2000Inga D. Neumann, Simone A. Krömer +2 more
The results indicate a differential involvement of brain oxytocin in the regulation of the HPA axis activity which depends both on the site of intracerebral Oxytocin release and the stressor the animals are exposed to.
NeuroreportAmygdalar activation associated with positive and negative facial expressions
260 Citations2002Tony T. Yang, Vinod Menon +6 more
A broader role for the amygdala in modulating the vigilance level during the perception of several negative and positive facial emotions is suggested.
Progress in brain researchRole of the amygdala in processing visual social stimuli
251 Citations2006Ralph Adolphs, Michael Spezio
It is proposed that the term emotion be broadened to include increased attention to bodily responses and their representation in cortex, and that the amygdala exerts attentional modulation of simulation in somatosensory cortices such as supramarginal gyrus and insula.
BMC NeuroscienceElevated responses to constant facial emotions in different faces in the human amygdala: an fMRI study of facial identity and expression
53 Citations2004Jan Gläscher, Oliver Tüscher +2 more
It is suggested that the amygdala might serve to detect constant facial emotions in different individuals, complementing its established role for detecting emotional variability.
