title: In touch with your emotions: oxytocin and touch change social impressions while others' facial expressions can alter touch.
abstract: Interpersonal touch is frequently used for communicating emotions, strengthen social bonds and to give others pleasure. The neuropeptide oxytocin increases social interest, improves recognition of others' emotions, and it is released during touch. Here, we investigated how oxytocin and gentle human touch affect social impressions of others, and vice versa, how others' facial expressions and oxytocin affect touch experience. In a placebo-controlled crossover study using intranasal oxytocin, 40 healthy volunteers viewed faces with different facial expressions along with concomitant gentle human touch or control machine touch, while pupil diameter was monitored. After each stimulus pair, participants rated the perceived friendliness and attractiveness of the faces, perceived facial expression, or pleasantness and intensity of the touch. After intranasal oxytocin treatment, gentle human touch had a sharpening effect on social evaluations of others relative to machine touch, such that frowning faces were rated as less friendly and attractive, whereas smiling faces were rated as more friendly and attractive. Conversely, smiling faces increased, whereas frowning faces reduced, pleasantness of concomitant touch - the latter effect being stronger for human touch. Oxytocin did not alter touch pleasantness. Pupillary responses, a measure of attentional allocation, were larger to human touch than to equally intense machine touch, especially when paired with a smiling face. Overall, our results point to mechanisms important for human affiliation and social bond formation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, S-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: dan-mikael.ellingsen@neuro.gu.se.
authors.forename: Dan-Mikael
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ellingsen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, S-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wessberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chelnokova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, S-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Olausson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Laeng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, S-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Siri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leknes
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Emotion; Facial expression; Human; Interpersonal; Oxytocin; Pupil dilation; Touch