scholarly journals Oxytocin enhancement of emotional empathy: generalization across cultures and effects on amygdala activity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
YaYuan Geng ◽  
Weihua Zhao ◽  
Feng Zhou ◽  
Xiaole Ma ◽  
Shuxia Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Independent Experiment ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Emotional Empathy ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Amygdala Activity ◽  
Positive Valence ◽  
The Right

AbstractAccumulating evidence suggests that the neuropeptide oxytocin can enhance empathy although it is unclear which specific behavioral and neural aspects are influenced, and whether the effects are modulated by culture, sex and trait autism. Based on previous findings in Caucasian men, we hypothesized that a single intranasal dose of oxytocin would specifically enhance emotional empathy via modulatory effects on the amygdala in an Asian (Chinese) population and explored the modulatory role of sex and trait autism on the effects. We first conducted a double-blind, randomized between-subject design experiment using a modified version of the multifaceted empathy task (MET) to determine whether oxytocin’s facilitation of emotional empathy can be replicated in Chinese men (n = 60). To further explore neural mechanisms behind and potential sex differences, functional MRI and skin conductance measures were acquired in an independent experiment incorporating men and women (n = 72). Oxytocin enhanced emotional empathy across experiments and sex, an effect that was accompanied by reduced amygdala activity and increased skin conductance responses. On the network level oxytocin enhanced functional coupling of the right amygdala with the insula and posterior cingulate cortex for positive valence stimuli but attenuated coupling for negative valence stimuli. The effect of oxytocin on amygdala functional connectivity with the insula was modulated by trait autism. Overall, our findings provide further support for the role of oxytocin in facilitating emotional empathy and demonstrate that effects are independent of culture and sex and involve modulatory effects on the amygdala and its interactions with other key empathy regions.

scholarly journals Oxytocin facilitates communicative adjustment by upregulating broadband aperiodic neural activity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Liu ◽  
Arjen Stolk ◽  
Miriam de Boer ◽  
Robert Oostenveld ◽  
Ivan Toni
Keyword(s):  
Intranasal Administration ◽  
Synaptic Activity ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Communicative Behavior ◽  
Communicative Behaviors ◽  
Mutual Knowledge ◽  
Cortical Circuit ◽  
The Right ◽  
To Receive

Oxytocin modulates various social behaviors. In humans, oxytocin has been shown to modulate recipient design, i.e. how communicators adjust to their presumed mutual knowledge. Here, we investigate electrophysiological correlates of the oxytocinergic modulation of recipient design. Fifty-one males were randomly assigned to receive double-blind intranasal administration of oxytocin or placebo. While acquiring magnetoencephalography, the participants engaged in a live communicative task with two different addressees, a child and an adult. Unbeknownst to the participants, a confederate played the role of both addressees, with matched communicative behaviors. All participants started the task by putting more emphasis on their communicative behaviors when they thought to be interacting with the child addressee. As the communication progressed, the oxytocin group reduced variability in their communicative adjustments, adapting more effectively than the placebo group to the matched communicative behavior of the addressees. The magnitude of this oxytocin-related dynamic communicative adjustment was proportional to increased broadband aperiodic power, an index of local synaptic activity, in the right prefrontal-temporal circuit. These findings indicate that oxytocin facilitates dynamic adjustments in recipient design by enhancing cortical signal-to-noise in a portion of the same cortical circuit known to support the production of novel communicative behaviors.

scholarly journals Oxytocin facilitates empathic- and self-embarrassment ratings by attenuating amygdala and anterior insula responses

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
YaYuan Geng ◽  
Weihua Zhao ◽  
Feng Zhou ◽  
Xiaole Ma ◽  
Shuxia Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Response ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
High Trait Anxiety ◽  
The Right

AbstractThe hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin has been reported to enhance emotional empathy in association with reduced amygdala activation, although to date studies have not investigated empathy for individuals expressing self-conscious, moral emotions which engage mentalizing as well as emotion processing networks. In the current randomized, double-blind placebo controlled functional MRI experiment on 70 male and female subjects we have therefore investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) on behavioral and neural responses to embarrassment experienced by others or by self. Results showed that oxytocin significantly increased ratings of both empathic and self-embarrassment and concomitantly decreased skin conductance response and activation in the right amygdala and insula but not in the medial prefrontal cortex. The amygdala effects of oxytocin were associated with the magnitude of the skin conductance response and trait anxiety scores. Overall our results demonstrate that oxytocin increases ratings of self- and other embarrassment and that this is associated with reduced physiological arousal and activity in neural circuitry involved in emotional arousal. The neural effects of oxytocin are also stronger in individuals with high trait anxiety suggesting that it may particularly reduce their anxiety in embarrassing situations.

scholarly journals Precision Inhibitory Stimulation of Individual-Specific Cortical Hubs Disrupts Information Processing in Humans

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 3912-3921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J Lynch ◽  
Andrew L Breeden ◽  
Evan M Gordon ◽  
Joseph B C Cherry ◽  
Peter E Turkeltaub ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Functional Brain Networks ◽  
Promising Treatment ◽  
Spatial Positioning ◽  
Double Blind Design ◽  
The Right

Abstract Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is a promising treatment for psychiatric and neurologic conditions, but outcomes are variable across treated individuals. In principle, precise targeting of individual-specific features of functional brain networks could improve the efficacy of NIBS interventions. Network theory predicts that the role of a node in a network can be inferred from its connections; as such, we hypothesized that targeting individual-specific “hub” brain areas with NIBS should impact cognition more than nonhub brain areas. Here, we first demonstrate that the spatial positioning of hubs is variable across individuals but reproducible within individuals upon repeated imaging. We then tested our hypothesis in healthy individuals using a prospective, within-subject, double-blind design. Inhibition of a hub with continuous theta burst stimulation disrupted information processing during working-memory more than inhibition of a nonhub area, despite targets being separated by only a few centimeters on the right middle frontal gyrus of each subject. Based upon these findings, we conclude that individual-specific brain network features are functionally relevant and could leveraged as stimulation sites in future NIBS interventions.

scholarly journals Caregiver Stress and Empathy: Neural and Hormonal Correlates

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 179-179
Author(s):  
Shalmali Mirajkar ◽  
David Warren ◽  
Janelle Beadle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Tend And Befriend ◽  
The Right

Abstract Providing care to older adults with chronic conditions can be emotionally meaningful and stressful. The tend-and-befriend theory highlights the role of affiliation/empathy in stress reduction, but it has not been established whether this theory extends to caregivers for older adults. Addressing this gap, we assessed caregiver empathy and stress through behavioral, hormone, and neuroimaging measures. In Experiment 1, we compared 19 caregivers (Mage=67.1) to 24 non-caregivers (Mage=72.6), and found that caregivers with a greater reduction in cortisol to an empathic context showed greater prosocial behavior (r2=0.3). In experiment 2 (N=32), we examined differences between caregivers and non-caregivers in whole brain resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with seed regions of interest (posterior cingulate cortex (PCC); amygdala), and covariation of RSFC with empathy (α=0.05). For emotional empathy, caregivers had stronger connectivity between the PCC seed, medial prefrontal cortex, and right supramarginal gyrus, and between the amygdala seed and the right middle frontal gyrus.

scholarly journals Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Acute Effects of LSD on Empathy and Circulating Oxytocin

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike Holze ◽  
Isidora Avedisian ◽  
Nimmy Varghese ◽  
Anne Eckert ◽  
Matthias E. Liechti
Keyword(s):  
Random Order ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Emotional Empathy ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Oxytocin Release ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Primary Action

The psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has experienced a revival in research, including clinical trials that evaluate LSD-assisted psychotherapy. LSD induces perceptual alterations and influences emotion processing in ways that may support psychotherapy. Here, we investigated the effects of LSD on emotional empathy and mediating role of the serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A (5-HT2A) receptor by administering 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg LSD alone and 200 µg LSD combined with pretreatment with the 5-HT2A receptor antagonist ketanserin (40 mg) using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, random-order, crossover design in 16 healthy subjects. The Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) was used to assess the effects of LSD on emotional empathy. Plasma oxytocin levels were also measured. LSD dose-dependently increased implicit and explicit emotional empathy, with the highest 200 µg LSD dose having a significant effect compared with placebo. The 200 µg dose of LSD also moderately increased plasma oxytocin levels compared with placebo. Ketanserin reduced the LSD-induced elevations of oxytocin but not the LSD-induced increases in emotional empathy. These findings confirm that LSD enhances empathy, and this effect may be partially independent of its primary action on 5-HT2A receptors to induce subjective psychedelic effects. In contrast, LSD-induced oxytocin release may depend on 5-HT2A receptor stimulation, which is consistent with the psychedelic effect of LSD. Further studies are needed to investigate whether LSD may also enhance empathy and potentially produce therapeutic effects in patients who have deficits in empathy and impairments in social functioning.

scholarly journals Critical role of the right uncinate fasciculus in emotional empathy

2014 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenichi Oishi ◽  
Andreia V. Faria ◽  
John Hsu ◽  
Donna Tippett ◽  
Susumu Mori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Uncinate Fasciculus ◽  
Emotional Empathy ◽  
The Right

scholarly journals How Much of Me Do I See in Other Minds? Modulating Egocentricity in Emotion Judgments by tDCS

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Anne Weigand ◽  
Irene Trilla ◽  
Lioba Enk ◽  
Garret O’Connell ◽  
Kristin Prehn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Study ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
General Role ◽  
Fearful Faces ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
The Right

When inferring the mental states of others, individuals’ judgments are influenced by their own state of mind, an effect often referred to as egocentricity. Self–other differentiation is key for an accurate interpretation of other’s mental states, especially when these differ from one’s own states. It has been suggested that the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) is causally involved in overcoming egocentricity in the affective domain. In a double-blind randomized study, 47 healthy adults received anodal (1 mA, 20 min) or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the rSMG prior to performing a newly developed paradigm, the self–other facial emotion judgment (SOFE) task. In this task, participants made judgments of facial emotional expressions while having been previously confronted with congruent or incongruent emotion-inducing situations. To differentiate between emotional and cognitive egocentricity, participants additionally completed an established visual perspective-taking task. Our results confirmed the occurrence of emotional egocentric biases during the SOFE task. No conclusive evidence of a general role of the rSMG in emotional egocentricity was found. However, active as compared to sham tDCS induced descriptively lower egocentric biases when judging incongruent fearful faces, and stronger biases when judging incongruent happy faces, suggesting emotion-specific tDCS effects on egocentric biases. Further, we found significant tDCS effects on cognitive egocentricity. Results of the present study expanded our understanding of emotional egocentricity and point towards emotion-specific patterns of the underlying functionality.

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