The influence of oxytocin on volitional and emotional ambivalence.
Moral decisions and social relationships are often characterized by strong feelings of ambivalence which can be a catalyst for emotional distress and several health-related problems. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been identified as a key brain region in monitoring conflicting information, but the neurobiological substrates of ambivalence processing are still widely unknown. We have conducted two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments involving 70 healthy male volunteers to investigate the effects of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) on neural and behavioral correlates of ambivalence. We chose moral decision-making and the imagery of partner infidelity as examples to probe volitional and emotional ambivalence. In both experiments, intranasal OXT diminished neural responses in the ACC to ambivalence. Under OXT, moral dilemma vignettes also elicited a reduced activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, and the imagery of partner infidelity was rated as less arousing. Interestingly, the OXT-induced differential activation in the ACC predicted the magnitude of arousal reduction. Taken together, our findings reveal an unprecedented role of OXT in causing a domain-general decrease of neural responses to ambivalence. By alleviating emotional distress, OXT may qualify as a treatment option for psychiatric disorders with heightened ambivalence sensitivity such as schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany.
Katrin
K
Preckel
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany Dirk-Scheele@gmx.de.
Dirk
D
Scheele
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany.
Monika
M
Eckstein
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany.
Wolfgang
W
Maier
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany, and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany.
René
R
Hurlemann
D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D003657:Decision Making; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007578:Jealousy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects; D012919:Social Behavior; D018454:Spouses; D014836:Volition / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult
D010121:Oxytocin
ambivalence; anterior cingulate cortex; fMRI; jealousy; moral; oxytocin