title: Oxytocin reduces neural activity in the pain circuitry when seeing pain in others.
abstract: Our empathetic abilities allow us to feel the pain of others. This phenomenon of vicarious feeling arises because the neural circuitry of feeling pain and seeing pain in others is shared. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is considered a robust facilitator of empathy, as intranasal OXT studies have repeatedly been shown to improve cognitive empathy (e.g. mind reading and emotion recognition). However, OXT has not yet been shown to increase neural empathic responses to pain in others, a core aspect of affective empathy. Effects of OXT on empathy for pain are difficult to predict, because OXT evidently has pain-reducing properties. Accordingly, OXT might paradoxically decrease empathy for pain. Here, using functional neuroimaging we show robust activation in the neural circuitry of pain (insula and sensorimotor regions) when subjects observe pain in others. Crucially, this empathy-related activation in the neural circuitry of pain is strongly reduced after intranasal OXT, specifically in the left insula. OXT on the basis of our neuroimaging data thus remarkably decreases empathy for pain, but further research including behavioral measures is necessary to draw definite conclusions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Bos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Estrella R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Radboud University Medical Centre, Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Erno J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 2, 9713 AW, The Netherlands.|The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keysers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa.|Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Honk
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D004645:Empathy / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Empathy; Neuropeptides; Social behavior; fMRI
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