Weisman Omri, Pelphrey Kevin A, Leckman James F, Feldman Ruth, Lu Yunfeng, Chong Anne, Chen Ying, Monakhov Mikhail, Chew Soo Hong, Ebstein Richard P
Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015 Aug;58:23-32. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.04.007. Epub 2015 Apr 16.
Both testosterone and oxytocin influence an individual's accuracy in inferring another's feelings and emotions. Fetal testosterone, and the second-to-forth digit ratio (2D:4D) as its proxy, plays a role in social cognitive development, often by attenuating socio-affective skill. Conversely, oxytocin generally facilitates socio-affiliative and empathic cognition and behavior. A common polymorphism in the oxytocin receptor gene, OXTR rs53576, has been repeatedly linked with psychosocial competence, including empathy, with individuals homozygous for the G allele typically characterized by enhanced socio-cognitive skills compared to A allele carriers. We examined the role of oxytocin and testosterone in collectively contributing to individual differences in cognitive empathy as measured by Baron-Cohen's "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" task (RMET). Findings are based on a large cohort of male and female students (N=1463) of Han Chinese ethnicity. In line with existing literature, women outperformed men in the RMET. Men showed significantly lower 2D:4D ratio compared to women, indicating higher exposure to testosterone during the prenatal period. Interestingly, variation in the OXTR gene was found to interact with 2D:4D to predict men's (but not women's) RMET performance. Among men with GG allelic variation, those with low fetal testosterone performed better on the RMET, compared to men with GG and high fetal testosterone, suggesting greater identification of another's emotional state. Taken together, our data lend unique support to the mutual influence of the oxytocin and testosterone systems in shaping core aspect of human social cognition early in development, further suggesting that this effect is gender-specific.
睾酮和催产素都会影响个体推断他人感受和情绪的准确性。胎儿期睾酮及其替代指标第二至第四指长度比（2D:4D）在社会认知发展中发挥作用，通常是通过削弱社会情感技能来实现的。相反，催产素一般会促进社会亲和与共情认知及行为。催产素受体基因OXTR rs53576中的一种常见多态性与心理社会能力（包括共情）反复相关，与A等位基因携带者相比，G等位基因纯合个体通常具有更强的社会认知技能。我们通过巴伦 - 科恩的“眼神读心术”任务（RMET）来检验催产素和睾酮在共同导致认知共情个体差异方面的作用。研究结果基于一大群汉族男女学生（N = 1463）。与现有文献一致，女性在RMET任务中的表现优于男性。男性的2D:4D比值显著低于女性，表明其在胎儿期接触的睾酮水平更高。有趣的是，发现OXTR基因的变异与2D:4D相互作用以预测男性（而非女性）的RMET表现。在具有GG等位基因变异的男性中，胎儿期睾酮水平低的个体在RMET任务中的表现优于具有GG等位基因变异且胎儿期睾酮水平高的男性，这表明他们对他人情绪状态的识别能力更强。综上所述，我们的数据为催产素和睾酮系统在人类社会认知发展早期塑造核心方面的相互影响提供了独特支持，进一步表明这种影响具有性别特异性。
