Sniff and mimic - Intranasal oxytocin increases facial mimicry in a sample of men.
The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has many potential social benefits. For example, intranasal administration of OT appears to trigger caregiving behavior and to improve the recognition of emotional facial expressions. But the mechanism for these effects is not yet clear. Recent findings relating OT to action imitation and to the visual processing of the eye region of faces point to mimicry as a mechanism through which OT improves processing of emotional expression. To test the hypothesis that increased levels of OT in the brain enhance facial mimicry, 60 healthy male participants were administered, in a double-blind between-subjects design, 24 international units (IUs) of OT or placebo (PLA) through nasal spray. Facial mimicry and emotion judgments were recorded in response to movie clips depicting changing facial expressions. As expected, facial mimicry was increased in the OT group, but effects were strongest for angry infant faces. These findings provide further evidence for the importance of OT in social cognitive skills, and suggest that facial mimicry mediates the effects of OT on improved emotion recognition.
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech, 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 1202 West Johnson street, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Electronic address: skorb@sissa.it.
Sebastian
S
Korb
Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech, 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, 40 bd du Pont d'Arve, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Jennifer.Malsert@unige.ch.
Jennifer
J
Malsert
Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, 213F CDD Center for Disabilities and Development, 100 Hawkins Dr, Iowa City, IA 52246, USA. Electronic address: lane-strathearn@uiowa.edu.
Lane
L
Strathearn
Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel-Servet, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Patrik.Vuilleumier@unige.ch.
Patrik
P
Vuilleumier
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 1202 West Johnson street, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Electronic address: niedenthal@wisc.edu.
Paula
P
Niedenthal
D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects*; D005149:Facial Expression; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult
D010121:Oxytocin
Caregiving; Facial expressions; Facial feedback; Facial mimicry; Oxytocin