Heinrichs, Dawans, Domes. OT, AVP and Human Social Behavior Flashcards
Some experiments have found correlations b/t plasma or salivary levels of the peptides and physiological, endocrine and behavioral measures. For example, breast-feeding increases the plasma level of OT and decreases ACTH and cortisol responses to psychosocial stressors. This could be interpreted to mean that release of OT in the brain (central release) causes this decrease in stress responsivity. However the authors describe two problems with this interpretation. What are the two problems?
1) Within this context there were a variety of cofactors (like release of hormones such a prolactin and opioid peptides) which are difficult to control for in experiments that trigger endogenous stimulation such as lactation or physical contact.
2) the amount of OT detected in the plasma does not accurately reflect the availability of the neuropeptide in the CNA.
What was the effect of intranasal OT on amygdala responses to facial expressions of fear, anger and happiness?
Instranasal OT reduces amygdala responses to fearful, angry and happy faces even when the emotional content of the presented face was not given explicitly.
How did the authors interpret these results with regard to explaining the role of OT in facilitating social approach behavior?
The author suggests that OT plays a modulatory role in the amygdala responses to socially relevant stimuli and that the amygdala facilitates social approach behaviors
What is the evidence for facilitation of social memory? Briefly summarize two of the experiments they describe, including in your own summary they method they used to measure social memory.
- One experiment showed that OT administration before learning enhances memory for happy faces compared to angry or neutral faces.
- A second experiment showed that OT improves memory for faces but not for social stimuli which suggests an effect of peptide-strengthening neuronal systems of social memory.
Model that shows how OT facilitates social approach behavior
- Anxiety and stress encourage social behavior, which stimulates OT release (in healthy people)
- Positive interactions (physical touch) also stimulate OT release, and this OT release will suppress HPA axis activity in response to social stressors.
What two variables are proposed to stimulate the activity of OT neurons
OT is simulated by positive interactions such as physical touch, and is also stimulated by anxiety and stress.
OT is proposed to have two independent effects, indicated by separate arrows. What are these?
These two independent effects are to decrease stress and increase social approach behaviors
What role does amygdala reactivity play in the model?
In the model presented in fig 1, the amygdala is associated with the stress response, and activity in the amygdala will increase during stress, but will subsequently decrease due to the effects of oxytocin
What psychobiological therapy do the authors propose for treating disorders that include deficts in social interaction?
The authors propose thatwhen treating disorders that include deficits in social interaction (OCD, BPD, Sz or ASD) the psychobiological theory that may work best is one that includes behaviors therapy and natural stimulation of engoenous OT or administration of exogenous OT.
The entire point of this therapy is to act in a manner that is social and appropriate, that these behaviors will trigger more OT and that more OT causes the person to continue to act in a social manner that will produce even more OT and create something like a positive feedback loop.
