Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, MD 20837;Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy; and
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy; and.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 May 13;111(19):6922-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1402471111. Epub 2014 Apr 28.
Early caregiver-infant interactions are critical for infants' socioemotional and cognitive development. Several hormones and neuromodulators, including oxytocin, affect these interactions. Exogenous oxytocin promotes social behaviors in several species, including human and nonhuman primates. Although exogenous oxytocin increases social function in adults--including expression recognition and affiliation--it is unknown whether oxytocin can increase social interactions in infants. We hypothesized that nebulized oxytocin would increase affiliative social behaviors and such effects would be modulated by infants' social skills, measured earlier in development. We also hypothesized that oxytocin's effects on social behaviors may be due to its anxiolytic effects. We tested these hypotheses in a blind study by nebulizing 7- to 14-d-old macaques (n = 28) with oxytocin or saline. Following oxytocin administration, infants' facial gesturing at a human caregiver increased, and infants' salivary oxytocin was positively correlated with the time spent in close proximity to a caregiver. Infants' imitative skill (measured earlier in development: 1-7 d of age) predicted oxytocin-associated increases in affiliative behaviors--lip smacking, visual attention to a caregiver, and time in close proximity to a caregiver--suggesting that infants with higher propensities for positive social interactions are more sensitive to exogenous oxytocin. Oxytocin also decreased salivary cortisol, but not stress-related behaviors (e.g., scratching), suggesting the possibility of some anxiolytic effects. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that oxytocin increases positive social behaviors in newborns. This information is of critical importance for potential interventions aimed at ameliorating inadequate social behaviors in infants with higher likelihood of developing neurodevelopmental disorder.
早期照料者与婴儿的互动对婴儿的社会情感和认知发展至关重要。几种激素和神经调质,包括催产素,影响这些互动。外源性催产素促进了包括人类和非人类灵长类动物在内的几种物种的社会行为。尽管外源性催产素增加了成年人的社交功能,包括表情识别和情感联系,但尚不清楚催产素是否可以增加婴儿的社交互动。我们假设,雾化催产素会增加婴儿的亲昵社交行为,而这些影响会受到婴儿早期社会技能的调节。我们还假设,催产素对社会行为的影响可能与其抗焦虑作用有关。我们通过对 7 至 14 天大的猕猴(n = 28)进行雾化催产素或生理盐水的盲法研究来检验这些假设。在给予催产素后,婴儿对人类照料者的面部表情增加,婴儿的唾液催产素与与照料者近距离接触的时间呈正相关。婴儿的模仿技能(在更早的发育阶段进行测量:1-7 天)预测了与催产素相关的亲昵行为增加,如嘴唇吸吮、对照料者的视觉关注以及与照料者近距离接触的时间,这表明具有更高积极社交互动倾向的婴儿对外源性催产素更为敏感。催产素还降低了唾液皮质醇,但没有降低与压力相关的行为(例如,抓挠),这表明可能具有一定的抗焦虑作用。据我们所知,这项研究首次提供了证据,表明催产素可以增加新生儿的积极社交行为。这些信息对于旨在改善有更高发展性神经障碍风险的婴儿社交行为不足的潜在干预措施至关重要。