Scheele Dirk, Plota Jessica, Stoffel-Wagner Birgit, Maier Wolfgang, Hurlemann René
Department of Psychiatry and Division of Medical Psychology,
Department of Psychiatry and Division of Medical Psychology.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2016 May;11(5):767-74. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsv157. Epub 2015 Dec 31.
The hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) has been identified as a key modulator of pair-bonding in men, but its effects in women are still elusive. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that hormonal contraception (HC) influences partner preferences and sexual satisfaction, which constitute core domains of OXT function. We thus hypothesized that OXT effects on partner-related behavioral and neural responses could be significantly altered in women using HC. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study involving 40 pair-bonded women, 21 of whom were using HC, we investigated whether a 24-IU nasal dose of OXT would modulate brain reward responses evoked by the romantic partner's face relative to the faces of familiar and unfamiliar people. Treatment with OXT increased the perceived attractiveness of the partner relative to other men, which was paralleled by elevated responses in reward-associated regions, including the nucleus accumbens. These effects of OXT were absent in women using HC. Our results confirm and extend previous findings in men that OXT interacts with the brain reward system to reinforce partner value representations, indicating a common OXT-dependent mechanism underlying partner attraction in both sexes. This mechanism may be disturbed in women using HC, suggesting that gonadal steroids could alter partner-specific OXT effects.
下丘脑肽催产素（OXT）已被确定为男性伴侣关系形成的关键调节因子，但其对女性的影响仍不明确。此外，有大量证据表明激素避孕（HC）会影响伴侣偏好和性满意度，而这两者是OXT功能的核心领域。因此，我们推测使用HC的女性中，OXT对与伴侣相关的行为和神经反应的影响可能会发生显著改变。在这项涉及40名已建立伴侣关系的女性的功能磁共振成像研究中，其中21名女性正在使用HC，我们研究了24国际单位鼻腔给药剂量的OXT是否会调节浪漫伴侣面孔相对于熟悉和不熟悉面孔所引发的大脑奖赏反应。与其他男性相比，OXT治疗增加了伴侣面孔的吸引力感知，同时奖赏相关区域（包括伏隔核）的反应也增强。使用HC的女性中未观察到OXT的这些作用。我们的结果证实并扩展了先前在男性中的研究发现，即OXT与大脑奖赏系统相互作用以增强伴侣价值表征，表明两性中伴侣吸引力存在共同的依赖于OXT的机制。这种机制在使用HC的女性中可能会受到干扰，提示性腺类固醇可能会改变OXT对伴侣的特异性作用。
