Center of Brain Disorder and Cognitive Sciences, College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Horm Behav. 2019 Jul;113:85-94. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.04.014. Epub 2019 May 20.
The quick and efficient perception of facial expressions represents a special and fundamental capacity of humans to engage in social communication. Here, we examined the effects of vasopressin (AVP, a neuropeptide) on the processing of same- and other-gender facial expressions among males and females. After receiving either AVP or placebo (PBO) intranasally in a randomized and double-blind manner, participants were asked to rate their approachability to facial expressions while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Males rated lower approachability scores to neutral and positive male faces relative to the scores to emotion-matched female faces after AVP but not following PBO administration. These behavioral effects were correlated with the AVP-induced increased P1 and decreased N170 responses to male faces among male participants. Females rated higher approachability scores to negative female faces than the scores to negative male faces after AVP but not following PBO treatment. These results suggest that AVP decreases friendly responses to neutral/positive male faces in males and increases friendly responses to negative female faces in females. Overall, these results demonstrate the gender-specific effects of AVP in response to same- and other-gender facial expressions, indicating there are sex- and context-dependent effects of AVP on socioemotional processes.
对面部表情的快速而有效的感知是人类进行社会交流的一种特殊而基本的能力。在这里，我们研究了神经肽血管加压素（AVP）对男性和女性对同性和异性面部表情处理的影响。在随机和双盲的方式下接受鼻内给予 AVP 或安慰剂（PBO）后，要求参与者在记录事件相关电位（ERP）的同时对面部表情的可接近性进行评分。与接受 PBO 后相比，男性在接受 AVP 后对中性和积极的男性面孔的可接近性评分较低，而对与情绪匹配的女性面孔的评分较高。这些行为效应与男性参与者中 AVP 诱导的对男性面孔的 P1 增加和 N170 减少相关。与接受 PBO 后相比，女性在接受 AVP 后对消极的女性面孔的可接近性评分较高，而对消极的男性面孔的评分较低。这些结果表明，AVP 降低了男性对中性/积极男性面孔的友好反应，而增加了女性对消极女性面孔的友好反应。总的来说，这些结果表明 AVP 对同性和异性面部表情的反应存在性别特异性影响，表明 AVP 对社会情感过程有性别和情境依赖性影响。
