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Cited by 151Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorFace Recognition and PerceptionEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Oxytocin enhances pupil dilation and sensitivity to 'hidden' emotional expressions

Open access
Leknes, Siri, Wessberg, Johan, Ellingsen, Dan-Mikael, Chelnokova, Olga, Olausson, Håkan, Laeng, Bruno·2013·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
DOI 10.1093/scan/nss062PMC PMC3791062
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Abstract

Sensing others' emotions through subtle facial expressions is a highly important social skill. We investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin treatment on the evaluation of explicit and 'hidden' emotional expressions and related the results to individual differences in sensitivity to others' subtle expressions of anger and happiness. Forty healthy volunteers participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, which shows that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or 'sharpened' evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information. Our results point to mechanisms that could underpin oxytocin's prosocial effects in humans. Importantly, individual differences in baseline emotional sensitivity predicted oxytocin's effects on the ability to sense differences between faces with hidden emotional information. Participants with low emotional sensitivity showed greater oxytocin-induced improvement. These participants also showed larger task-related pupil dilation, suggesting that they also allocated the most attentional resources to the task. Overall, oxytocin treatment enhanced stimulus-induced pupil dilation, consistent with oxytocin enhancement of attention towards socially relevant stimuli. Since pupil dilation can be associated with increased attractiveness and approach behaviour, this effect could also represent a mechanism by which oxytocin increases human affiliation.

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Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of 39 healthy volunteers, a single 40 IU intranasal oxytocin dose sharpened evaluative ratings of explicit and hidden happy/angry facial expressions and increased stimulus-induced pupil dilation. Oxytocin’s improvement on hidden-expression sensitivity was greatest in participants with low baseline emotional sensitivity.

Key findings

  • Oxytocin produced a stimulus-congruent “sharpening” of emotion ratings: it increased anger ratings for angry faces and decreased anger ratings for happy faces, while increasing happiness ratings for happy faces and decreasing happiness ratings for angry faces. This was seen for explicit and implicit expressions (anger ratings interaction: F(3.4,128)=2.7, P=0.042; happiness ratings interaction: F(3.3,127)=3.3, P=0.021; planned contrasts for implicit anger P=0.029 and implicit happiness P=0.028).
  • Baseline emotional sensitivity predicted oxytocin’s effect on hidden expressions: participants with low sensitivity improved more, whereas high-sensitivity participants showed little benefit. The emotional sensitivity score covaried with oxytocin-induced improvement for perceived anger (t=−2.3, P=0.028) and perceived happiness (t=−3.3, P=0.002); median-split paired tests showed significant improvement only in the low-sensitivity group (anger P=0.002; happiness P=0.005).
  • Oxytocin increased stimulus-induced pupil dilation, with larger dilation after oxytocin in the 1000–3000 ms interval (P<0.001). Average pupil size was 3.7 mm, and mean stimulus-induced dilation was 0.3 mm (8%). There was no significant main effect of facial expression (e.g., P=0.45 at 1700 ms) or treatment-by-expression interaction (P=0.50 at 1700 ms).
  • Pupil dilation was negatively associated with emotional sensitivity (r=−0.37, P<0.05), and the low-sensitivity group showed greater dilation than the high-sensitivity group (P<0.01 in 1400–3000 ms). Oxytocin did not affect mood ratings (F(1,26)=1.4, P=0.246).

Methods

  • Forty healthy right-handed volunteers were recruited; one was excluded, yielding 39 participants (20 females, mean age 26 years, range 20–39). Each completed two sessions on separate days in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design: 40 IU intranasal oxytocin or 0.9% saline, with order counterbalanced.
  • Participants viewed black-and-white face images from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces set, including explicitly angry, implicitly angry, neutral, implicitly happy, and explicitly happy expressions. Implicit “hybrid” images combined low-frequency emotional information (1–6 cycles/image) with high-frequency neutral information (>7 cycles/image). After each stimulus pair, participants rated perceived emotion and social characteristics on visual analogue scales; pupil diameter of the left eye was recorded at 240 Hz for 3000 ms.
  • Behavioral data were analyzed with repeated-measures ANOVAs, Pearson correlations, and linear regressions. Pupillometry data were preprocessed in Matlab and analyzed with linear mixed models; good-quality recordings from both sessions existed for 25 participants (50 sessions).

Limitations

  • Stated: it is unclear whether oxytocin-induced pupil dilation reflects enhanced attractiveness or interest toward faces; all stimuli were socially relevant, so it is unknown whether effects are specific to social stimuli. The authors also note that larger datasets are needed, that findings may not generalize to other emotions or ecological interactions, and that single-dose effects may differ from repeated administration.
  • Stated: pupillometry analyses were limited to 25 participants because some datasets were lost to technical constraints, and median-split analyses were presented only as illustrations rather than independent analysis steps.
  • Evident: the study used a relatively small healthy-volunteer sample, and the authors argue that high emotional sensitivity in such populations may make oxytocin effects small or non-significant; the paper also reports no direct evidence that oxytocin’s prosocial effects were mediated by increased attention allocation to social stimuli.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/scan/nss062

Cites

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Statistics

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Claims the paper makes

0 of 58 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    Oxytocin treatment enhances stimulus-induced pupil dilation.

    “Overall, oxytocin treatment enhanced stimulus-induced pupil dilation”
    • Also stated in: § Ratings of explicitly and implicitly presented angry and happy facial expressions · plain
      “stimulus-induced pupil dilation was larger after oxytocin pre-treatment”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Baseline emotional sensitivity predicts oxytocin's effects on the ability to sense differences between faces with hidden emotional information.

    “individual differences in baseline emotional sensitivity predicted oxytocins effects on the ability to sense differences between faces with hidden emotional information.”
    • Also stated in: § Ratings of explicitly and implicitly presented angry and happy facial expressions · plain
      “the emotional sensitivity score covaried with how much oxytocin improved the sensitivity towards differences between the implicitly presented expressions of anger and happiness”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    A single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhances or sharpens evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expressions for both explicit and hidden emotional information.

    “which shows that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or sharpened evaluative processing of others positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information.”
    • Also stated in: § Ratings of explicitly and implicitly presented angry and happy facial expressions · plain
      “Oxytocin enhanced evaluation of explicitly and implicitly presented angry and happy facial expressions”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Participants with low emotional sensitivity show larger task-related pupil dilation.

    “These participants also showed larger task-related pupil dilation”
    • Also stated in: § Ratings of explicitly and implicitly presented angry and happy facial expressions · plain
      “low emotional sensitivity group (pupillometry data from 13 participants) showed a significantly greater dilation of the pupil during stimulation than did the 12 participants with high emotional sensitivity scores”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Participants with low emotional sensitivity show greater oxytocin-induced improvement in emotional sensitivity than those with high emotional sensitivity.

    “Participants with low emotional sensitivity showed greater oxytocin-induced improvement.”
    • Also stated in: § Ratings of explicitly and implicitly presented angry and happy facial expressions · plain
      “significant improvement with oxytocin only for the low sensitivity group”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 40
  • May combine two claims. 30
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    There were no significant effects of participants' gender on pupil dilation.

    “There were no significant effects of participants' gender on pupil dilation (P ¼ 0.46 at 1700 ms)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Oxytocin's effects on perception were present for both explicitly and implicitly presented emotional facial expressions, across negative (anger) and positive (happiness) emotions.

    “These effects of treatment were present for both explicitly and implicitly presented emotional facial expressions, across negative (anger) and positive (happiness) emotions.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    There were no significant effects of order of treatment presentation on pupil dilation.

    “or the order of treatment presentation, oxytocin or placebo first (P ¼ 0.58 at 1700 ms).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Explicitly angry faces are rated as most angry, least happy, friendly and attractive; explicitly happy faces are rated as least angry and most happy, friendly and attractive.

    “with explicitly angry faces rated as the most angry, least happy, friendly and attractive and explicitly happy faces perceived as the least angry and most happy, friendly and attractive.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Oxytocin consistently enhances the perception of others' emotional facial expressions, sharpening evaluations such that happy faces appear more happy and less angry, whereas angry expressions appear more angry and less happy.

    “The results from this study demonstrate that oxytocin consistently enhances the perception of others' emotional facial expressions, 'sharpening' the impression such that happy faces appear more happy and less angry, whereas angry expressions appear more angry and less happy.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Oxytocin increased anger ratings for faces containing anger and decreased anger ratings for faces containing happy emotional information, for both explicit and implicit expressions.

    “oxytocin increased anger ratings for faces containing anger, but decreased anger ratings of faces containing happy emotional information (explicit expressions, P ¼ 0.028, implicit expressions, P ¼ 0.029).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Oxytocin treatment increased ratings of congruent and decreased ratings of incongruent emotional expressions.

    “oxytocin treatment increased ratings of congruent and decreased ratings of incongruent emotional expressions”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Average pupil size was 3.7 mm, and mean stimulus-induced pupil dilation during 3 s was 0.3 mm (8%).

    “Average pupil size was 3.7 mm, and the mean stimulus-induced pupil dilation during the 3 s stimulus presentation period was 0.3 mm (8%).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Implicitly angry images are rated as significantly more angry, less happy, less friendly and less attractive than implicitly happy images.

    “Planned contrasts confirmed that the implicitly angry images were rated as significantly more angry (P < 0.001), less happy (P < 0.001), less friendly (P < 0.001) and less attractive (P ¼ 0.043) than the implicitly happy images.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Paired t-tests showed significant improvement with oxytocin only for the low sensitivity group (anger high P=0.84, low P=0.002; happiness high P=0.73, low P=0.005).

    “Paired two-tailed t-tests for each group showed significant improvement with oxytocin only for the low sensitivity group (anger ratings: high sensitivity P ¼ 0.84, low sensitivity P ¼ 0.002; happiness ratings: high sensitivity P ¼ 0.73, low sensitivity P ¼ 0.005).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Oxytocin enhanced perception of happiness of happy expressions and decreased happiness ratings of angry expressions for implicit expressions (P=0.028), with a non-significant trend for explicit expressions (P=0.24).

    “Similarly, oxytocin enhanced the perception of happiness of happy expressions and decreased happiness ratings of angry expressions (explicit expressions, P ¼ 0.24 and implicit expressions, P ¼ 0.028).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Images of happiness were rated as happier and less angry, and the opposite effect was found for images of anger.

    “Specifically, images of happiness were rated as happier and less angry, and the opposite effect was found for images of anger.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin enhances recognition of fear but not other emotions in morphed emotional faces.

    “enhanced recognition of fear but not other emotions (Fischer-Shofty et al., 2010)”
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    • cites Fischer-Shofty et al., 2010 source

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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin enhances maternal aggression towards potential threats.

    “Interestingly, it also enhances maternal aggression towards potential threats (Campbell, 2008).”
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    • cites Campbell, 2008 source

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    Premisereasoning

    Oxytocin may only improve empathic accuracy for participants who experience difficulty in evaluating others' emotions.

    “Specifically, it may be that oxytocin only improves empathic accuracy for those participants who experience difficulty in evaluating others' emotions.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin enhances recognition of positive but not negative expressions in morphed emotional faces.

    “enhanced recognition of positive but not negative expressions (Marsh et al., 2010)”
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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin enhances nurturing and reduces maternal aggression towards rat pups.

    “For instance, oxytocin enhances nurturing and reduces maternal aggression towards rat pups.”
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    • cites Campbell, 2008 source

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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin's effects on emotional processing have been variable and, in some cases, contradictory.

    “However, oxytocin's effects on emotional processing have been variable and, in some cases, even contradictory (for a comprehensive review, see Bartz et al., 2011).”
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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin has a detrimental effect on fear perception in morphed emotional faces.

    “a detrimental effect on fear perception (Di Simplicio et al., 2009)”
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    • cites Di Simplicio et al., 2009 source

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    Oxytocin enhances performance on the eyes task for 'easy' items.

    “and 'easy' items (Guastella et al., 2010)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Guastella et al., 2010 source

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    Study design and conductnone given

    Participants were tested in a windowless room with constant artificial lighting.

    “Participants were tested in a windowless room with constant artificial lighting.”
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    Study design and conductnone given

    The order of presentation of rating scale pairs was pseudo-randomised within each session and within each rating scale pair.

    “The order of presentation of the rating scale pairs was pseudo-randomised within each session and within each rating scale pair”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

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    Study design and conductreasoning

    The background section of each image was altered to obtain the same net luminance for all images.

    “As pupil size is affected by ambient luminance, the background section of each image was altered to obtain the same net luminance for all images using Matlab (The Mathworks Inc., Natick, MA, USA).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Pupil dilation has been successfully used as an index of interest, attention allocation or cognitive load.

    “Pupil dilation has been successfully used as an index of interest, attention allocation or cognitive load (Hess and Polt, 1960;Kahneman and Beatty, 1966;Laeng et al., 2012).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Hess and Polt, 1960

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    Premisecitation

    Phasic and tonic pupil increases are tightly coupled to activity within the locus coeruleus.

    “Phasic and tonic pupil increases are tightly coupled to activity within the locus coeruleus (LC), a brainstem nucleus, which is the seat of the brain's noradrenergic pathways (Aston-Jones and Cohen, 2005).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Aston-Jones and Cohen, 2005

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    Pupil dilation can be used as a sensitive measure of cognitive load and task difficulty.

    “Pupil dilation can be used as a sensitive measure of cognitive load and task difficulty (Kahneman, 1973;Laeng et al., 2012).”
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    • cites Kahneman, 1973

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    Premisecitation

    Hybrid faces containing hidden anger or happiness, sadness or fear are judged as neutral when observers choose among emotion labels, indicating the hidden expression cannot be consciously acknowledged.

    “Such 'hybrid' faces containing hidden anger or happiness, sadness or fear have been shown to be judged as neutral, when observers are asked to choose among various emotion labels, thus indicating that the underlying, 'hidden', expression cannot be consciously acknowledged (Laeng et al., 2010).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
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    Premisecitation

    Pupil dilation has shown remarkable covariation with the firing of neurons in the LC, the 'hub' of the noradrenergic system in the brain.

    “This measure has shown remarkable covariation with the firing of neurons in the LC, the 'hub' of the noradrenergic system in the brain (Aston-Jones and Cohen, 2005).”
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    • cites Aston-Jones and Cohen, 2005

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    Study design and conductown data

    Good-quality pupil recordings from both sessions existed for 25 participants; only these data were analysed.

    “Good-quality recordings from both sessions existed for 25 participants; only these data were analysed (50 sessions).”
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    Study design and conductown data

    One participant participated in one session only and was excluded, yielding a final study group size of 39.

    “One participant participated in one session only and was excluded, yielding a final study group size of 39 (20 females, mean age 26 years, range 20-39 years).”
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    Premisecitation

    LC signalling is thought to be particularly important for event detection and closely related to the 'ventral attention network'.

    “LC signalling is thought to be particularly important for event detection and closely related to the 'ventral attention network' (Corbetta et al., 2008).”
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    Study design and conductnone given

    Eye blinks and artifacts were excluded, leaving pupil sizes of 1-9 mm.

    “Eye blinks and artifacts were excluded, leaving pupil sizes of 1-9 mm.”
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    Study design and conductown data

    The study used a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design with counterbalanced order of oxytocin and placebo administration.

    “The order of administration was counterbalanced across participants, and neither experimenters nor participants were aware of the contents of the spray (double-blind design).”
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    Premisecitation

    Impaired emotion recognition is a symptom of several mental disorders, including schizophrenia and drug addiction.

    “Impaired emotion recognition is a symptom of several mental disorders, including schizophrenia and drug addiction (Penn et al., 2008;Fernandez-Serrano et al., 2010).”
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    Premisecitation

    Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2009) reported increases in evaluation of both negative and positive feelings induced by a monetary task.

    “In contrast, Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2009) reported increases in evaluation of both negative and positive feelings induced by a monetary task.”
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    Premisecitation

    The authors suggested that oxytocin increases the salience of social cues and that treatment with oxytocin should benefit individuals who are generally less tuned to social information, but not socially adept individuals.

    “The authors suggested that oxytocin increases the salience of social cues and that treatment with oxytocin should benefit individuals who are generally less tuned to social information, but not socially adept individuals.”
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    Early investigations provide some encouragement that oxytocin could prove a useful supplement to current treatment of both schizophrenia and drug addiction.

    “Interestingly, early investigations provide some encouragement that oxytocin could prove a useful supplement to current treatment of both schizophrenia (Keri et al., 2008;Feifel et al., 2010) and drug addiction (You et al., 2001;Qi et al., 2009;Carson et al., 2010).”
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    Premisecitation

    Seeing others' dilated pupils causes significantly higher amygdala activation than viewing undilated pupils, an effect that appears unrelated to subjective reports of attractiveness.

    “Seeing others' dilated pupils also causes significantly higher amygdala activation than viewing undilated pupils, an effect that nonetheless appears to be unrelated to subjective reports of attractiveness (Demos et al., 2008;Amemiya and Ohtomo, 2012).”
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    Petrovic et al. (2008) found that oxytocin reduced the negative evaluation of a face predicting unpleasant electric shocks.

    “Petrovic et al. (2008) found that oxytocin reduced the negative evaluation of a face predicting unpleasant electric shocks.”
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    Interpretationown data

    Our results are consistent with the notion that oxytocin increases the salience of social cues and benefits individuals less tuned to social information.

    “Our results are consistent with this notion.”
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    • cites Bartz et al. (2010) source

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    Interpretationown data

    The task of rating aspects of the presented stimuli demands higher attention allocation and represents increased cognitive load in those with low sensitivity.

    “We interpret this between-subjects finding as an indication of task difficulty, whereby the task of rating aspects of the presented stimuli demands higher attention allocation and represents increased cognitive load in those with low sensitivity.”
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    Premisecitation

    Some studies have reported enhanced empathic accuracy towards only positive or negative emotions, some found the effect strongest for difficult items, and others the opposite.

    “Some have reported enhanced empathic accuracy towards only positive (Di Simplicio et al., 2009;Marsh et al., 2010) or negative emotions (Fischer-Shofty et al., 2010), some have found that the effect is strongest for difficult items (Domes et al., 2007) and others the opposite (Guastella et al., 2010;Schulze et al., 2011).”
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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin enhancement of perceived attractiveness was reported in a previous study.

    “Oxytocin enhancement of perceived attractiveness was reported in a previous study (Theodoridou et al., 2009).”
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    • cites Theodoridou et al., 2009 source

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    Interpretationown data

    Our findings extend upon the findings by Norman et al. to include images of negative emotional value and also implicitly presented emotional information.

    “Importantly, our findings extend upon the findings by Norman et al. to include images of negative emotional value and also implicitly presented emotional information.”
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    • cites Norman et al., 2010 source

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    Premisereasoning

    The nature of the reported improvement in emotion recognition after oxytocin has varied considerably.

    “However, the nature of the reported improvement has varied considerably.”
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    Premisecitation

    Dilated pupils are associated with increased attractiveness and they can influence approach behaviour.

    “Dilated pupils are associated with increased attractiveness and they can influence approach behaviour (e.g.see Wiseman and Watt, 2010).”
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    • cites Wiseman and Watt, 2010

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    Premisecitation

    A number of studies have shown that pupil dilation closely mirrors sexual interest or reward value.

    “A number of studies have also shown that pupil dilation closely mirrors sexual interest or reward value (Hess and Polt, 1960;Whipple et al., 1992;Laeng and Falkenberg, 2007;Bijleveld et al., 2009).”
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    Oxytocin is known to interact with sex hormones such as oestrogen.

    “Oxytocin is known to interact with sex hormones such as oestrogen, but few studies in humans have so far had the necessary scope to address such questions (Campbell, 2010).”
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    A recent study by Bartz et al. (2010) reported a compelling interaction between oxytocin treatment and social competence, as measured with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ).

    “A recent study by Bartz et al. (2010) reported a compelling interaction between oxytocin treatment and social competence, as measured with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ).”
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    Interpretationown data

    We replicate and extend their findings to include static images and hidden emotional expressions.

    “Importantly, we replicate and extend their findings to include static images and hidden emotional expressions.”
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    Interpretationcitation

    The findings reported here on perception of others' emotions replicate and extend upon previous reports on the prosocial effects of oxytocin.

    “The findings reported here on perception of others' emotions replicate and extend upon previous reports on the prosocial effects of oxytocin.”
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    Oxytocin is thought to be released in situations of trust and warm touch.

    “since oxytocin is thought to be released in situations of trust and warm touch (Morhenn et al., 2008).”
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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Pupil dilation reflects task demands.

    “Since pupil dilation reflects task demands and we expected those with low emotional sensitivity to find the rating tasks more demanding than those with high emotional sensitivity, we expected and found a trend towards a significant association between task-induced pupil dilation and oxytocin-induced improvement of evaluation of implicit expressions (t ¼ 2.1, P ¼ 0.053).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Hess and Polt, 1960

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites Kahneman and Beatty, 1966

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites Laeng et al., 2012 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The emotional sensitivity score is a more basic measure of social skills than the AQ in the sense that the present measure is behavioural and does not rely on self-report.

    “a more basic measure of social skills than the AQ in the sense that the present measure is behavioural and does not rely on self-report about one's own behavioural patterns.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Our findings support early indications that oxytocin treatment holds promise for not only for autism spectrum disorder but also for other psychiatric populations including schizophrenia and drug addiction.

    “Our findings support early indications that oxytocin treatment holds promise for not only for autism spectrum disorder but also for other psychiatric populations including schizophrenia and drug addiction.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
55 of 55

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Autism is marked by low sensitivity to others' emotions.

    “As autism is marked by low sensitivity to others' emotions”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    A high AQ score is associated with low sensitivity towards others' expressions of emotion.

    “Since a high AQ score is associated with low sensitivity towards others' expressions of emotion”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The baseline emotional sensitivity score, based on placebo-session ratings of implicit angry versus happy faces, reflects participants' stable sensitivity to others' subtle emotions.

    “We defined high emotional sensitivity as the successful differentiation of implicitly presented anger and happiness in the placebo session.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Intranasal oxytocin administration increases central oxytocin levels sufficiently to affect brain function.

    “Thus, it is possible that intranasal or endogenous increase of central oxytocin levels causes pupil dilation via direct oxytocinergic actions on neurons in the LC.”
4 of 4

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?

  • Four studies investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin on the physiological response to generally threatening stimuli, including angry faces, images of threatening scenes, and predictable and unpredictable electric shocks.

    “Four studies investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin on the physiological response to generally threatening stimuli, including angry faces, images of threatening scenes, and predictable and unpredictable electric shocks (Grillon et al., 2013;Leknes et al., 2013;Prehn et al., 2013;Striepens et al., 2012).”

    From Meta-analytic review of the effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin on threat processing in humans (2018) · cites this paper as Leknes et al., 2013

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Stated amygdala-sensitive frequencies exclude the hidden emotional frequencies

    Minor

    The emotional components of the hybrid images retain 1-6 cycles/image, but the stated frequencies to which the amygdala is sensitive are >6 cycles/image. As written, that frequency range does not include the emotional information the method is said to preferentially stimulate.

1 of 1

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Lundqvist, 1998, Karolinska directed emotional faces [database of standardized facial images]

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Leknes, S., Wessberg, J., Ellingsen, D.-M., Chelnokova, O., Olausson, H., & Laeng, B.
Affiliations
University of Oslo (NO)
ORCID
Venue
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2012-05-29
Volume
8
Issue
7
Pages
741-749
ISSN
  • 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-5024
DOI
10.1093/scan/nss062
PMC
PMC3791062
OpenAlex
W2148376016
Cited by
151
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 1
FWCI
17.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Vetenskapsrådet (2007-2912)
  • Norges Forskningsråd (ES455867)
  • Marcus och Amalia Wallenbergs minnesfond (2009.0080)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
oxytocin, pupil dilation, facial expression recognition, emotional sensitivity, individual differences, anger, happiness, attention allocation, social cognition, prosocial behavior
MeSH terms
Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Attention, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Oxytocin, Pupil, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult

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.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-09.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-09.

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