Cited by 35Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorPrimate Behavior and Ecology

An evolutionary perspective on the behavioral consequences of exogenous oxytocin application

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Ebitz, R. Becket, Platt, Michael L.·2014·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

Abstract

Oxytocin (OT) is released in response to social signals, particularly positive ones like eye contact, social touch, sexual behavior, and affiliative vocalizations. Conversely, exogenous delivery of OT has diverse behavioral effects, sometimes promoting affiliative and prosocial behaviors, but sometimes suppressing them. Here, we argue that one unifying interpretation of these diverse effects is to view OT as an evolutionarily conserved physiological signal indicating affiliative interactions and predicting their behavioral consequences. In this model, OT regulates the way information about the social environment accesses the neural circuitry responsible for social behavior, thereby shaping it in sometimes counter intuitive but adaptive ways. Notably, prosociality is not always the most adaptive response to an affiliative signal from another individual. In many circumstances, an asocial or even antisocial response may confer greater fitness benefits. We argue that the behavioral effects of exogenous OT delivery not only parallel the behavioral effects of affiliative interactions, but are themselves adaptive responses to affiliative interactions. In support of this idea, we review recent evidence that OT does not unilaterally enhance social attention, as previously thought, but rather can reduce the typical prioritization of social information at the expense of other information or goals. Such diminished social vigilance may be an adaptive response to affiliative social interactions because it frees attentional resources for the pursuit of other goals. Finally, we predict that OT may mediate other behavioral consequences of social interactions, such as reduced predator vigilance, and argue that this is a rich avenue for future behavioral and neurobiological study.

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Crossref · 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00225

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  • IN-OT promotes social exploration, enhances social motivation, and attenuates social vigilance in nonhuman primate models.

    “There is accumulated research on the role of IN-OT in promoting social exploration, enhancing social motivation and attenuating social vigilance in nonhuman primate models (Chang et al. 2012; Chang and Platt 2014; Ebitz and Platt 2013; Parr et al. 2013; Putnam et al. 2016).”

    From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Ebitz and Platt 2013

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Authors
Ebitz, R. B., & Platt, M. L.
Affiliations
Duke University (US)
Corresponding author
Ebitz, R. Becket
Venue
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Published
2014
Volume
7
Pages
225-225
ISSN
1662-5153 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2166013573
Cited by
35
References
108
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2
FWCI
8.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Defense (W81XWH1110584, W81XWH-11-1-, W81XWH)
  • National Institutes of Health (W81XWH)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH086712, R01MH089484, R01MH096875)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
oxytocin, affiliative behavior, prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, social attention, social vigilance, evolutionary perspective, social information processing, predator vigilance, social signals, adaptive behavior

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