The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 56 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Impact of a Single Administration of Intranasal Oxytocin on the Recognition of Basic Emotions in Humans: A Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
Many studies have highlighted the potential of oxytocin (OT) to enhance facial affect recognition in healthy humans. However, inconsistencies have emerged with regard to the influence of OT on the recognition of specific emotional expressions (happy, angry, fear, surprise, disgust, and sadness). In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies comprising 381 research participants (71 females) examining responses to the basic emotion types to assess whether OT enhances the recognition of emotion from human faces and whether this was influenced by the emotion expression and exposure time of the face. Results showed that intranasal OT administration enhances emotion recognition of faces overall, with a Hedges g effect size of 0.29. When analysis was restricted to facial expression types, significant effects of OT on recognition accuracy were specifically found for the recognition of happy and fear faces. We also found that effect sizes increased to moderate when exposure time of the photograph was restricted to early phase recognition (< 300 ms) for happy and angry faces, or later phase recognition for fear faces (> 300 ms). The results of the meta-analysis further suggest that OT has potential as a treatment to improve the recognition of emotion in faces, allowing individuals to improve their insight into the intentions, desires, and mental states of others.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“These studies yielded summarized effect sizes ranging from d=0.21 to d=0.48.”
From Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies (2016) · cites this paper as [10]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“To date three meta-analyses of the effects of IN-OT on human behavior have been published.”
From Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies (2016) · cites this paper as [10]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Shahrestani et al. conducted a meta-analysis of studies examining the effect of OT on recognition of basic emotions (7 effect sizes, total N = 381)(10).”
From Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies (2016) · cites this paper as [10]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The meta-analyses mentioned in this paper all tested for evidence of publication bias in the IN-OT literature, with mixed results (9–11).”
From Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies (2016) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“A few previous meta-analytic reviews have found that intranasal oxytocin improves recognition of anger and happiness, and increases ingroup trust among healthy individuals with small effect sizes (Shahrestani et al., 2013;van Ijzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012).”
From Meta-analysis of the effects of intranasal oxytocin on interpretation and expression of emotions (2017) · cites this paper as Shahrestani et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“However, these results are in line with a previous meta-analysis, which also found that intranasal oxytocin improved early recognition of angry faces and late recognition of fearful faces among healthy individuals (Shahrestani et al., 2013).”
From Meta-analysis of the effects of intranasal oxytocin on interpretation and expression of emotions (2017) · cites this paper as Shahrestani et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“In humans, alterations in amygdala responses to positive and negative emotions have been reported in neuropsychiatric conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia [72,73], in association with OXTR genetic variants [41,102] or following intranasal OXT [33,36,38,103].”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“we have demonstrated that emotion discrimination abilities in mice are dependent on the OXT system”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“OXT has been associated with social cognitive functions, such as emotion recognition [8-10, 33-36, 38, 39].”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
In the citing paper
“This interpretation is further supported by findings from a previous meta-analysis that found that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin improved early detection of anger and late detection of fear in healthy humans (Shahrestani et al., 2013).”
From Meta-analytic review of the effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin on threat processing in humans (2018) · cites this paper as Shahrestani et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“OXT has been shown to increase social cognition in the face of both positive and negative stimuli (Shahrestani et al, 2013).”
From Oxytocin Facilitates Pavlovian Fear Learning in Males (2016) · cites this paper as Shahrestani et al, 2013
In the citing paper
“However, these studies predominantly used emotional faces to investigate OT’s actions on AA behavior and were thus unable to determine whether observed effects were driven by its well-established actions on increased attention and attraction to faces per se (Theodoridou et al., 2009; Domes et al., 2013; Shahrestani et al., 2013; Striepens et al., 2014; Xu et al., 2015).”
From Oxytocin facilitates approach behavior to positive social stimuli via decreasing anterior insula activity (2018) · cites this paper as Shahrestani et al., 2013
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & for the PRISMA Group (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2535 · Cited by 83,823
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA Statement.
(2009) · PubMed Central · Cited by 44,859
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & the PRISMA Group* (2009) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135 · Cited by 37,554
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. R. (2009) · doi:10.1002/9780470743386 · Cited by 14,225
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. R. (2021) · doi:10.1002/9781119558378 · Cited by 9,799
Moher, D., Cook, D. J., Eastwood, S., Olkin, I., Rennie, D., & Stroup, D. F. (1999) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(99)04149-5 · Cited by 4,826
The Handbook of Research Synthesis.
Howel, D., Cooper, H., & Hedges, L. V. (1995) · Biometrics · doi:10.2307/2533295 · Cited by 3,657
On the universality and cultural specificity of emotion recognition: a meta-analysis
Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.2.203 · Cited by 2,049
Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion
Ekman, P., Sorenson, E. R., & Friesen, W. V. (1969) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.164.3875.86 · Cited by 1,775
Oxytocin Modulates Neural Circuitry for Social Cognition and Fear in Humans
Kirsch, P., Esslinger, C., Chen, Q., Mier, D., Lis, S., Siddhanti, S., Gruppe, H., Mattay, V. S., Gallhofer, B., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2005) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3984-05.2005 · Cited by 1,639
Ebner, N. C., Riediger, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2010) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/brm.42.1.351 · Cited by 1,262
The Handbook of Research Synthesis
Hanka, R. (1994) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.309.6952.488a · Cited by 1,065
Intranasal oxytocin improves emotion recognition for youth with autism spectrum disorders.
Guastella, A. J., Einfeld, S. L., Gray, K. M., Rinehart, N. J., Tonge, B. J., Lambert, T. J., & Hickie, I. B. (2010) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.020 · Cited by 962
Self-citationFacial Expressions of Emotion: Are Angry Faces Detected More Efficiently?
Fox, E., Lester, V., Russo, R., Bowles, R. J., Pichler, A., & Dutton, K. (2000) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/026999300378996 · Cited by 950
Understanding the recognition of facial identity and facial expression
Calder, A. J., & Young, A. W. (2005) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn1724 · Cited by 948
Promoting social behavior with oxytocin in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders.
Andari, E., Duhamel, J.-R., Zalla, T., Herbrecht, E., Leboyer, M., & Sirigu, A. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0910249107 · Cited by 941
Deficits in facial affect recognition among antisocial populations: A meta-analysis
Marsh, A. A., & Blair, J. (2007) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.08.003 · Cited by 849
Oxytocin attenuates amygdala responses to emotional faces regardless of valence
Domes, G., Heinrichs, M., Gläscher, J., Büchel, C., Braus, D. F., & Herpertz, S. C. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.025 · Cited by 774
Brain Dynamics Underlying the Nonlinear Threshold for Access to Consciousness
Del Cul, A., Baillet, S., & Dehaene, S. (2007) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050260 · Cited by 753
The Peptide That Binds: A Systematic Review of Oxytocin and its Prosocial Effects in Humans
MacDonald, K., & MacDonald, T. M. (2010) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/10673220903523615 · Cited by 585
Facial expressions of emotion (KDEF): Identification under different display-duration conditions
Calvo, M. G., & Lundqvist, D. (2008) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/brm.40.1.109 · Cited by 539
QUOROM Group, Moher, D., Cook, D. J., Eastwood, S., Olkin, I., Rennie, D., & Stroup, D. F. (2000) · British journal of surgery · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2168.2000.01610.x · Cited by 418
Graustella, A. J., & MacLeod, C. (2012) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.01.002 · Cited by 379
Positive facial expressions are recognized faster than negative facial expressions, but why?
Lepp�nen, J. M., & Hietanen, J. K. (2003) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-003-0157-2 · Cited by 374
Guastella, A. J., Howard, A. L., Dadds, M. R., Mitchell, P., & Carson, D. S. (2009) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.01.005 · Cited by 366
Self-citationVan IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.07.008 · Cited by 365
Guastella, A. J., Hickie, I. B., McGuinness, M. M., Otis, M., Woods, E. A., Disinger, H. M., Chan, H.-K., Chen, T. F., & Banati, R. B. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.11.019 · Cited by 357
Self-citationNonverbal Decoding Skills and Relationship Well-Being in Adults
Carton, J. S., Kessler, E. A., & Pape, C. L. (1999) · Journal of Nonverbal Behavior · doi:10.1023/a:1021339410262 · Cited by 352
The Intensity of Emotional Facial Expressions and Decoding Accuracy
Heß, U., Blairy, S., & Kleck, R. E. (1997) · Journal of Nonverbal Behavior · doi:10.1023/a:1024952730333 · Cited by 349
Oxytocin improves specific recognition of positive facial expressions
Marsh, A. A., Yu, H. H., Pine, D. S., & Blair, R. J. R. (2010) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-010-1780-4 · Cited by 321
Theodoridou, A., Rowe, A. C., Penton-Voak, I. S., & Rogers, P. J. (2009) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.03.019 · Cited by 318
Neuropsychological Profile of Autism and the Broad Autism Phenotype
Losh, M. C., Adolphs, R., Poe, M. D., Couture, S. M., Penn, D. L., Baranek, G. T., & Piven, J. (2009) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.34 · Cited by 303
Accurate identification of fear facial expressions predicts prosocial behavior.
Marsh, A. A., Kozak, M. N., & Ambady, N. (2007) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.239 · Cited by 288
Neuropeptides and the evolution of social behavior
Insel, T. (2000) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/s0959-4388(00)00146-x · Cited by 264
Moher, D., Cook, D. J., Eastwood, S., Olkin, I., Rennie, D., & Stroup, D. F. (2000) · Oncology Research and Treatment · doi:10.1159/000055014 · Cited by 235
The Role of Oxytocin in Human Affect: A Novel Hypothesis
Kemp, A. H., & Guastella, A. J. (2011) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721411417547 · Cited by 228
Self-citationLischke, A., Berger, C., Prehn, K., Heinrichs, M., Herpertz, S. C., & Domes, G. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.07.015 · Cited by 221
The effect of intranasal administration of oxytocin on fear recognition
Fischer-Shofty, M., Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., Harari, H., & Levkovitz, Y. (2010) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.09.003 · Cited by 184
Oxytocin increases recognition of masked emotional faces
Schulze, L., Lischke, A., Greif, J., Herpertz, S. C., Heinrichs, M., & Domes, G. (2011) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.03.011 · Cited by 180
Kemp, A. H., Quintana, D. S., Kuhnert, R.-L., Griffiths, K., Hickie, I. B., & Guastella, A. J. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044014 · Cited by 158
Self-citationOxytocin enhances pupil dilation and sensitivity to 'hidden' emotional expressions
Leknes, S., Wessberg, J., Ellingsen, D.-M., Chelnokova, O., Olausson, H., & Laeng, B. (2013) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nss062 · Cited by 151
Oxytocin differentially modulates eye gaze to naturalistic social signals of happiness and anger
Domes, G., Steiner, A., Porges, S. W., & Heinrichs, M. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.10.002 · Cited by 139
The effects of oxytocin on social cognition and behaviour in frontotemporal dementia
Jesso, S., Morlog, D., Ross, S., Pell, M. D., Pasternak, S., Mitchell, D. G. V., Kertesz, A., & Finger, E. C. (2011) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awr171 · Cited by 136
Rubinow, D. R., Crowder, V. L., Schmidt, P. J., & Rubinow, K. B. (2012) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-375097-6.10036-8 · Cited by 136
Intranasal oxytocin increases covert attention to positive social cues
Domes, G., Sibold, M., Schulze, L., Lischke, A., Herpertz, S. C., & Heinrichs, M. (2013) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291712002565 · Cited by 130
Social cognitive impairments in first episode psychosis
Bertrand, M.-C., Sutton, H., Achim, A. M., MALLA, A. K., & Lepage, M. (2007) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2007.05.033 · Cited by 127
Goldman, M. B., Gomes, A. M., Carter, C. S., & Lee, R. (2011) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-011-2193-8 · Cited by 112
Acute effects of intranasal oxytocin on subjective and behavioral responses to social rejection.
Alvares, G. A., Hickie, I. B., & Guastella, A. J. (2010) · Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1037/a0019719 · Cited by 92
Self-citationAssociations Between Social Anxiety and Nonverbal Processing Skill in Preadolescent Boys and Girls
Tone, E. B., & Nowicki, S. (2001) · Journal of Nonverbal Behavior · doi:10.1023/a:1006753006870 · Cited by 83
Ellenbogen, M. A., Linnen, A., Grumet, R., Cardoso, C., & Joober, R. (2012) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01278.x · Cited by 82
Guastella, A. J., & MacLeod, C. (2012) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.04.008 · Cited by 53
Self-citationImpaired identification of fearful faces in Generalised Social Phobia
Garner, M. J., Baldwin, D. S., Bradley, B. P., & Mogg, K. (2008) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.10.020 · Cited by 46
I Know What You're Thinking: Brain imaging and mental privacy
Richmond, S. D., Rees, G. E., & Edwards, S. (2012) · Cited by 32
Gronenschild, E. H. B. M., Smeets, F., Vuurman, E. F. P. M., van Boxtel, M. P. J., & Jolles, J. (2009) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/brm.41.4.1053 · Cited by 20
The social brain hypothesis: An evolutionary perspective on the neurobiology of social behaviour
Shultz, S., & Dunbar, R. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199596492.003.0002 · Cited by 14
Activation of Broca's area by syntactic processing under conditions of concurrent articulation
Caplan, D., Alpert, N., Waters, G., & Olivieri, A. (2000) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0193(200002)9:2
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Borenstein M, Hedges L, Higgins J, Rothstein H (2005) Comprehensive Meta-analysis Version 2. Englewood, NJ: Biostat.
- Ekman P, Friesen W (1976) The Pictures of Facial Affect Database. Consulting Psychologists Press: Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Olff, M., Frijling, J. L., Kubzansky, L. D., Bradley, B., Ellenbogen, M. A., Cardoso, C., Bartz, J. A., Yee, J. R., & van Zuiden, M. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.06.019 · Cited by 620
Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies
Walum, H., Waldman, I. D., & Young, L. J. (2016) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.06.016 · Cited by 347
“conducted a meta-analysis of studies examining the effect of OT on recognition of basic emotions (7 effect sizes, total N = 381)(10).”
MethodDe Dreu, C. K. W., & Kret, M. E. (2016) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.03.020 · Cited by 297
Quintana, D. S., Lischke, A., Grace, S., Scheele, D., Ma, Y., & Becker, B. (2021) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-020-00864-7 · Cited by 263
Kinetics and dose dependency of intranasal oxytocin effects on amygdala reactivity
Spengler, F. B., Schultz, J., Scheele, D., Essel, M., Maier, W., Heinrichs, M., & Hurlemann, R. (2017) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.04.015 · Cited by 229
Metadata
- Authors
- Shahrestani, S., Kemp, A. H., & Guastella, A. J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Kemp, Andrew H
- Guastella, Adam J
- Venue
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- Published
- 2013-04-10
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1929-1936
- ISSN
- 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
- 1740-634X
- PMC
- PMC3746698
- OpenAlex
- W1965231812
- Cited by
- 283
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 40 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 9
- FWCI
- 3.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council
- National Health and Medical Research Council (LP110100513, 571101)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Keywords
- oxytocin, intranasal administration, facial emotion recognition, basic emotions, happy faces, fearful faces, angry faces, exposure time, social cognition
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Emotions, Facial Expression, Humans, Neuropeptides, Oxytocin, Photic Stimulation, Time Factors, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Recognition, Psychology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
