title: Oxytocin selectively facilitates learning with social feedback and increases activity and functional connectivity in emotional memory and reward processing regions.
abstract: In male Caucasian subjects, learning is facilitated by receipt of social compared with non-social feedback, and the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) facilitates this effect. In this study, we have first shown a cultural difference in that male Chinese subjects actually perform significantly worse in the same reinforcement associated learning task with social (emotional faces) compared with non-social feedback. Nevertheless, in two independent double-blind placebo (PLC) controlled between-subject design experiments we found OXT still selectively facilitated learning with social feedback. Similar to Caucasian subjects this OXT effect was strongest with feedback using female rather than male faces. One experiment performed in conjunction with functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that during the response, but not feedback phase of the task, OXT selectively increased activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus and putamen during the social feedback condition, and functional connectivity between the amygdala and insula and caudate. Therefore, OXT may be increasing the salience and reward value of anticipated social feedback. In the PLC group, response times and state anxiety scores during social feedback were associated with signal changes in these same regions but not in the OXT group. OXT may therefore have also facilitated learning by reducing anxiety in the social feedback condition. Overall our results provide the first evidence for cultural differences in social facilitation of learning per se, but a similar selective enhancement of learning with social feedback under OXT. This effect of OXT may be associated with enhanced responses and functional connectivity in emotional memory and reward processing regions.
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610054, China; School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610054, China.
authors: Jiehui
authors: J
authors: Hu
authors: Song
authors: S
authors: Qi
authors: Benjamin
authors: B
authors: Becker
authors: Lizhu
authors: L
authors: Luo
authors: Shan
authors: S
authors: Gao
authors: Qiyong
authors: Q
authors: Gong
authors: René
authors: R
authors: Hurlemann
authors: Keith M
authors: KM
authors: Kendrick
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002681:China; D003469:Culture; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004644:Emotions; D005145:Face; D030141:Feedback, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012201:Reward; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents; D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Oxytocin; emotional memory; fMRI; functional connectivity; reinforcement learning