Effects of oxytocin administration on spirituality and emotional responses to meditation.
The oxytocin (OT) system, critically involved in social bonding, may also impinge on spirituality, which is the belief in a meaningful life imbued with a sense of connection to a Higher Power and/or the world. Midlife male participants (N = 83) were randomly assigned to receive intranasal OT or placebo. In exploratory analyses, participants were also genotyped for polymorphisms in two genes critical for OT signaling, the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR rs53576) and CD38 (rs6449182 and rs3796863). Results showed that intranasal OT increased self-reported spirituality on two separate measures and this effect remained significant a week later. It also boosted participants' experience of specific positive emotions during meditation, at both explicit and implicit levels. Furthermore, the effect of OT on spirituality was moderated by OT-related genotypes. These results provide the first experimental evidence that spirituality, endorsed by millions worldwide, appears to be supported by OT.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA pattyv@unc.edu.
Patty
P
Van Cappellen
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, OH, USA.
Baldwin M
BM
Way
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Suzannah F
SF
Isgett
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Barbara L
BL
Fredrickson
D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin / Q000235:genetics*; D012737:Sex Factors; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D029181:Spirituality
D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin; D010121:Oxytocin; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1
CD38; OXTR; emotion; meditation; oxytocin; spirituality