An interaction between oxytocin and a genetic variation of the oxytocin receptor modulates amygdala activity toward direct gaze: Evidence from a pharmacological imaging genetics study
Abstract
The neuropeptide oxytocin plays an important role in social cognition. One valuable tool to study social cognition in healthy and autistic humans in a neuroscientific context is the investigation of gaze toward another person. Of importance, it has been demonstrated that pronounced amygdala activation could be observed, when participants are confronted with direct gaze pictures in an fMRI setting, an effect that can be particularly observed in autistic individuals. In the present study, a combined pharmacological imaging genetics study has been conducted to further investigate the biological basis of direct gaze processing. N = 55 healthy males were invited to an oxytocin challenge study administered while watching direct vs. averted gaze pictures in an fMRI setting. In addition, the promoter region of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene of the participants was investigated to search for individual differences in the recorded BOLD signal. The main result revealed that a genetic variation of the OXTR gene (rs401015) modulated the right amygdala activity for the fMRI contrast "direct > averted gaze" under the influence of the neuropeptide oxytocin. Here, carriers of the heterozygous CT variant showed higher activity compared to the TT group. The present study highlights the role of individual differences in a genetic variant of the OXTR gene for amygdala activation during processing of direct gaze pictures after intranasal oxytocin administration. In sum, the study shows the importance of combining a pharmacological challenge with genetic imaging to better understand the biological basis of social cognition.
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Some individuals show heterogeneous responses to oxytocin, which may involve interaction with OXTR genetic polymorphisms.
“Some individuals have heterogeneous responses to OXT (22, 23), which may involve interaction with OXTR genetic polymorphisms (24–27).”
From Variation in the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Predicts Brain Region–Specific Expression and Social Attachment (2016) · cites this paper as [25]
Several studies suggest that oxytocin effects on behavior and brain function are modulated by OXTR genotype.
“Several studies indeed suggest that oxytocin effects on behavior54–56 and brain function57–59 are modulated by OXTR genotype.”
From Randomized clinical trial shows no substantial modulation of empathy-related neural activation by intranasal oxytocin in autism (2021) · cites this paper as [58]
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- Authors
- Montag, C., Sauer, C., Reuter, M., & Kirsch, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Kirsch, Peter
- Venue
- European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
- Published
- 2013-09-27
- Volume
- 263
- Issue
- S2
- Pages
- 169-175
- ISSN
- 0003-9373 (ISSN-L)
- 0940-1334
- 1433-8491
- OpenAlex
- W2058036054
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 6.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- oxytocin, oxytocin receptor gene, averted gaze, amygdala activation, social cognition, individual differences
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Amygdala, DNA, Double-Blind Method, Fear, Fixation, Ocular, Genotype, Haplotypes, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Oxygen, Oxytocin, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Social Environment, Receptors, Oxytocin, Cross-Over Studies, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Young Adult
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