Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210024, China.
Institute of Education, China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637002, China.
Biol Psychol. 2020 Nov;157:107976. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107976. Epub 2020 Nov 4.
The effects of intranasal oxytocin on amygdala activity during emotional perception are often mixed. Given that the brain is organized into networks of interconnected areas, functional connectivity might provide an effective way to further understand the oxytocin effect. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether oxytocin administration affects amygdala activity and its functional connectivity during dynamic facial expression perception. Using a between-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 55 participants were randomly assigned to groups receiving a single dose of 24 IU oxytocin or a placebo via intranasal administration. An implicit emotional task was employed to investigate the effect of oxytocin on neural responses to dynamic angry, neutral, and happy facial expressions with fMRI. Participants were instructed to respond only when the inverted dynamic faces were presented. The results indicated that oxytocin attenuated activation of insula and emotional processing-related regions (e.g., ACC, thalamus, and MFG) during the viewing of dynamic angry faces. However, functional connectivity between the regions involved in the perception of dynamic angry faces was not changed following oxytocin administration. The present findings may contribute to our understanding of the anxiolytic effects of oxytocin and eventually facilitate human clinical applications.
鼻内给予催产素对情绪感知过程中杏仁核活动的影响往往是混杂的。鉴于大脑组织为相互连接的区域网络，功能连接可能是进一步了解催产素作用的有效方法。本研究旨在探讨催产素给药是否会影响动态面部表情感知过程中杏仁核的活动及其功能连接。采用组间、双盲、安慰剂对照设计，将 55 名参与者随机分为两组，分别通过鼻内给予 24IU 催产素或安慰剂。使用内隐情绪任务，通过 fMRI 研究催产素对动态愤怒、中性和快乐面部表情的神经反应的影响。参与者被指示仅在呈现倒置的动态面孔时做出反应。结果表明，催产素减弱了参与者观看动态愤怒面孔时的岛叶和与情绪处理相关区域（如 ACC、丘脑和 MFG）的激活。然而，催产素给药后，参与动态愤怒面孔感知的区域之间的功能连接并未改变。这些发现可能有助于我们理解催产素的抗焦虑作用，并最终促进人类临床应用。
