Kreuder Ann-Kathrin, Scheele Dirk, Wassermann Lea, Wollseifer Michael, Stoffel-Wagner Birgit, Lee Mary R, Hennig Juergen, Maier Wolfgang, Hurlemann René
Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, 53105, Germany.
Division of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, Bonn, 53105, Germany.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2017 Sep;38(9):4525-4534. doi: 10.1002/hbm.23679. Epub 2017 Jun 5.
Humans belong to a minority of mammalian species that exhibit monogamous pair-bonds, thereby enabling biparental care of offspring. The high reward value of interpersonal closeness and touch in couples is a key proximate mechanism facilitating the maintenance of enduring romantic bonds. However, surprisingly, the neurobiological underpinnings mediating the unique experience of a romantic partner's touch remain unknown. In this randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled, between-group, pharmacofunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study involving 192 healthy volunteers (96 heterosexual couples), we intranasally administered 24 IU of the hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) to either the man or the woman. Subsequently, we scanned the subjects while they assumed that they were being touched by their romantic partners or by an unfamiliar person of the opposite sex, although in reality an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same experimenter. Our results show that intranasal OXT compared to PLC selectively enhanced the subjective pleasantness of the partner's touch. Importantly, intranasal OXT selectively increased responses to partner touch in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and anterior cingulate cortex. Under OXT, NAcc activations to partner touch positively correlated with the subjects' evaluation of their relationship quality. Collectively, our results suggest that OXT may contribute to the maintenance of monogamous relationships in humans by concomitantly increasing the reward value of partner touch and diminishing the hedonic quality of stranger touch. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4525-4534, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
人类属于少数实行一夫一妻制配偶关系的哺乳动物物种，因此能够双亲共同照顾后代。伴侣间人际亲密感和触摸的高奖励价值是促进持久浪漫关系维持的关键近端机制。然而，令人惊讶的是，介导浪漫伴侣触摸独特体验的神经生物学基础仍然未知。在这项涉及192名健康志愿者（96对异性恋夫妇）的随机安慰剂（PLC）对照、组间药理学功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究中，我们向男性或女性鼻内给予24国际单位的下丘脑肽催产素（OXT）。随后，我们扫描受试者，此时他们假定自己正被浪漫伴侣或异性陌生人触摸，尽管实际上相同的触摸模式始终由同一名实验者给予。我们的结果表明，与PLC相比，鼻内给予OXT选择性地增强了伴侣触摸的主观愉悦感。重要的是，鼻内给予OXT选择性地增加了伏隔核（NAcc）和前扣带回皮质对伴侣触摸的反应。在OXT作用下，NAcc对伴侣触摸的激活与受试者对其关系质量的评价呈正相关。总体而言，我们的结果表明，OXT可能通过同时增加伴侣触摸的奖励价值和降低陌生人触摸的享乐质量，有助于维持人类的一夫一妻制关系。《人类大脑图谱》38:4525 - 4534，2017年。© 2017威利期刊公司。
