Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Neuropharmacology. 2024 Dec 1;260:110130. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110130. Epub 2024 Aug 23.
Oxytocin (OT) is a crucial modulator of social cognition and behavior. Previous work primarily examined effects of acute intranasal oxytocin administration (IN-OT) in younger males on isolated brain regions. Not well understood are (i) chronic IN-OT effects, (ii) in older adults, (iii) on large-scale brain networks, representative of OT's wider-ranging brain mechanisms. To address these research gaps, 60 generally healthy older adults (mean age = 70.12 years, range = 55-83) were randomly assigned to self-administer either IN-OT or placebo twice daily via nasal spray over four weeks. Chronic IN-OT reduced resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) of both the right insula and the left middle cingulate cortex with the salience network but enhanced rs-FC of the left medial prefrontal cortex with the default mode network as well as the left thalamus with the basal ganglia-thalamus network. No significant chronic IN-OT effects were observed for between-network rs-FC. However, chronic IN-OT increased selective rs-FC of the basal ganglia-thalamus network with the salience network and the default mode network, indicative of more specialized, efficient communication between these networks. Directly comparing chronic vs. acute IN-OT, reduced rs-FC of the right insula with the salience network and between the default mode network and the basal ganglia-thalamus network, and greater selective rs-FC of the salience network with the default mode network and the basal ganglia-thalamus network, were more pronounced after chronic than acute IN-OT. Our results delineate the modulatory role of IN-OT on large-scale brain networks among older adults.
催产素（OT）是社会认知和行为的重要调节剂。之前的研究主要考察了年轻男性急性鼻腔内给予催产素（IN-OT）对孤立脑区的影响。尚未充分了解的是（i）慢性 IN-OT 效应，（ii）在老年人中，（iii）在代表 OT 更广泛的脑机制的大规模脑网络上。为了解决这些研究空白，60 名一般健康的老年人（平均年龄为 70.12 岁，范围为 55-83 岁）被随机分为两组，每组 30 人，通过鼻腔喷雾每天两次自我给予 IN-OT 或安慰剂，持续四周。慢性 IN-OT 降低了右侧岛叶和左侧中央扣带回与突显网络的静息态功能连接（rs-FC），但增强了左侧内侧前额叶与默认模式网络以及左侧丘脑与基底节-丘脑网络的 rs-FC。两组之间的网络 rs-FC 没有观察到显著的慢性 IN-OT 影响。然而，慢性 IN-OT 增加了基底节-丘脑网络与突显网络和默认模式网络的选择性 rs-FC，表明这些网络之间的通信更加专门化和高效。直接比较慢性和急性 IN-OT，右侧岛叶与突显网络以及默认模式网络与基底节-丘脑网络之间的 rs-FC 降低，突显网络与默认模式网络和基底节-丘脑网络之间的选择性 rs-FC 增加，在慢性 IN-OT 后比急性 IN-OT 更为明显。我们的研究结果描绘了 IN-OT 在老年人中对大规模脑网络的调节作用。
