The effect of oxytocin on attention to angry and happy faces in chronic depression

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Claus Normann¹  Gregor Domes²  Markus Heinrichs² 

[1] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;Department of Psychology, Laboratory for Biological and Personality Psychology, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Strasse 8, D-79104, Freiburg, Germany;Freiburg Brain Imaging, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;

关键词: Oxytocin;    Chronic depression;    Facial emotions;    Attention;    Dot probe;    Social perception;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-016-0794-9

 received in 2015-07-25, accepted in 2016-03-31,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundChronic depression is characterized by a high degree of early life trauma, psychosocial impairment, and deficits in social cognition. Undisturbed recognition and processing of facial emotions are basic prerequisites for smooth social interactions. Intranasal application of the neuropeptide oxytocin has been reported to enhance emotion recognition in neuropsychiatric disorders and healthy individuals. We therefore investigated whether oxytocin modulates attention to emotional faces in patients with chronic depression.MethodsIn this double-blind, randomized, controlled study, 43 patients received a single dose of oxytocin or placebo nasal spray and were tested while fulfilling a facial dot probe task. We assessed reaction times to neutral probes presented at the location of one of two faces depicting happy, angry, or neutral expressions as a prime.ResultsWhen comparing reaction times to the congruent (prime and probe at the same location) with incongruent presentation of facial emotions, neither the placebo nor oxytocin group showed an attentional preference for emotional facial expressions in terms of a threat bias. However, oxytocin treatment did reveal two specific effects: it generally reduced the allocation of attention towards angry facial expressions, and it increased sustained attention towards happy faces, specifically under conditions of heightened awareness, i.e. trials with longer primes.ConclusionsWe investigated a heterogeneous group of medicated male and female patients. We conclude that oxytocin does modulate basic factors of facial emotion processing in chronic depression. Our findings encourage further investigations assessing the therapeutic potential of oxytocin in chronic depression.Trial registrationEUDRA-CT 2010-020956-69. Date registered: 23 February 2011.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Domes et al. 2016