Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2014 Mar 3;49:47-52. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2013.11.006. Epub 2013 Nov 16.
The growing involvement of fathers in childcare is followed by an increased interest in the neurobiology of fatherhood; yet, experimental work on the neuroendocrine basis of paternal care in humans is limited. The steroid Testosterone (T) and the neuropeptide Oxytocin (OT) have each been implicated in complex social behavior including parenting. However, no study to date explored the interaction between these two hormones in the context of fathering. In the current study we first test the relationship between father's basal salivary T and father and infant's social behaviors during parent-child interaction. Second, we examine the effects of intranasal OT administration on father's T production, and, finally, address the relations between OT-induced change in father's T with father-infant social behavior. Thirty-five fathers and their infants participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject study. Father-infant interaction was micro-coded for paternal and infant social behavior and synchrony was measured as the coordination between their gaze, affect, and vocalizations. Father's salivary T levels were measured at baseline and three times after administration. Results indicate that lower baseline T correlated with more optimal father and infant's behaviors. OT administration altered T production in fathers, relative to the pattern of T in the placebo condition. Finally, OT-induced change in T levels correlated with parent-child social behaviors, including positive affect, social gaze, touch, and vocal synchrony. Findings support the view that neuroendocrine systems in human males evolved to support committed parenting and are the first to describe the dynamic interactions between OT and T within a bio-behavioral synchrony model.
父亲越来越多地参与育儿，这引发了人们对父性行为神经生物学的浓厚兴趣；然而，人类父爱亲代照料的神经内分泌基础的实验研究工作有限。类固醇睾丸激素（T）和神经肽催产素（OT）都与包括育儿在内的复杂社会行为有关。然而，迄今为止，没有研究探讨这两种激素在父性行为背景下的相互作用。在当前的研究中，我们首先检验了父亲基础唾液 T 与亲子互动期间父亲和婴儿社会行为之间的关系。其次，我们研究了鼻内 OT 给药对父亲 T 产生的影响，最后，探讨了 OT 诱导的父亲 T 变化与父亲-婴儿社会行为之间的关系。35 位父亲及其婴儿参与了一项双盲、安慰剂对照、自身对照研究。父亲-婴儿互动被微编码为父亲和婴儿的社会行为，同步性作为他们的目光、情感和发声之间的协调来测量。在基线和给药后三次测量了父亲的唾液 T 水平。结果表明，较低的基础 T 与更优化的父亲和婴儿行为相关。OT 给药改变了父亲的 T 产生，相对于安慰剂条件下的 T 模式。最后，OT 诱导的 T 水平变化与亲子社会行为相关，包括积极的情感、社会目光、触摸和发声同步。研究结果支持这样一种观点，即人类男性的神经内分泌系统进化为支持坚定的育儿，并首次描述了 OT 和 T 之间在生物行为同步模型中的动态相互作用。
