title: Oxytocin enhances attractiveness of unfamiliar female faces independent of the dopamine reward system.
abstract: Evidence from animal studies suggests that the social attraction and bonding effects of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) are mediated by its modulation of dopamine (DA) release in brain reward centers, but this has not yet been demonstrated in humans. DA release can be measured by positron emission tomography (PET) using the radioligand [11C]raclopride. Its binding to DA D2 receptors (D2R) is sensitive and reciprocally related to endogenous DA, especially in the striatum. In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled within-subjects trial on 18 adult male volunteers we combined [11C]raclopride PET and a facial attractiveness rating task to establish whether intranasal OXT (24 IU) increased both the perceived attractiveness of unfamiliar female faces and striatal DA release compared with placebo administration. While our behavioral data confirmed that subjects rated unfamiliar female faces as more attractive following OXT treatment, and this correlated with an increased perfusion rate in the striatum, there was no evidence for altered [11C]raclopride binding in the striatum or pallidum. Instead under OXT we rather observed an increased [11C]raclopride binding and reduced perfusion rate in subregions of the right dorsomedial prefrontal gyrus and superior parietal gyrus. The absence of OXT effects on dopamine release and D2 receptors in brain reward centers, despite increased striatal activity, implies that the peptide may facilitate perceived attraction via non-dopaminergic actions.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Striepens
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matusch
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), 610054 Chengdu, PR China.
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kendrick
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Yoan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mihov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Elmenhorst
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM-5, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM-5, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Heinz H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Coenen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: renehurlemann@me.com.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hurlemann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020891:Raclopride / Q000494:pharmacology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging
chemical_list: D020891:Raclopride; D010121:Oxytocin; D004298:Dopamine
keywords: Attractiveness; Dopamine; Face; Familiarity; MNI; MRI; Montreal Neurological Institute; Oxytocin; PET; Raclopride; Reward; Striatum; magnetic resonance imaging; positron emission tomography