Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany.
Brain Res. 2013 Mar 7;1499:29-42. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2013.01.009. Epub 2013 Jan 10.
The neuropeptide vasopressin has been shown to modulate social and affective processes. Using fMRI we investigated the influence of intranasal vasopressin (AVP) on neural activations related to social cognitions and emotion processing in a group of healthy young men. In a double-blind, placebo controlled between groups design, 20 IU AVP were administered intranasally to half of the participants before scanning, while the other half received saline intranasally. All participants viewed line drawings depicting either one or two persons (social factor) in an emotionally neutral or negative scene (emotional factor). Vasopressin modulated the activation of the right amygdala related to the emotional component of empathy. Moreover, vasopressin also increased connectivity of the right amygdala with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the inferior parietal lobule during the processing of pictures illustrating a socially threatening scene. This suggests that AVP reduces suppressive effects of the mPFC on amygdala activity resulting in the observed enhanced neural pattern in the amygdala. At present, it remains unclear whether the increased amygdala activity reflects a direct impact of AVP on vasopressin V1 receptors in the amygdala or an indirect effect via vasopressin V1 receptors in the mPFC or other remote brain sites.
神经肽加压素已被证明可以调节社会和情感过程。我们使用 fMRI 研究了在一组健康年轻男性中，鼻内加压素（AVP）对与社会认知和情绪处理相关的神经激活的影响。在一项双盲、安慰剂对照的组间设计中，在扫描前，将 20IU 的 AVP 鼻内给予一半参与者，而另一半参与者接受生理盐水鼻内给药。所有参与者都观看了描绘一个或两个人（社会因素）在情感中性或负面场景中的线条画（情感因素）。加压素调节了与同理心的情感成分相关的右杏仁核的激活。此外，加压素还增加了在处理描绘社会威胁场景的图片时，右杏仁核与内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）和下顶叶之间的连通性。这表明，AVP 减少了 mPFC 对杏仁核活动的抑制作用，导致杏仁核中观察到的增强的神经模式。目前尚不清楚增加的杏仁核活动是反映 AVP 对杏仁核中加压素 V1 受体的直接影响，还是通过 mPFC 或其他远程脑区的加压素 V1 受体的间接影响。
