Divergent effects of oxytocin on "mind-reading" in healthy males.

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has been associated with a broad range of human behaviors, particularly in the domain of social cognition, and is being discussed to play a role in a range of psychiatric disorders. Studies using the Reading The Mind In The Eyes Test (RMET) to investigate the role of O...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 112 - 123
Main Authors: Macchia, Ana, Zebhauser, Paul Theo, Salcedo, Stephanie, Burum, Bethany, Gold, Edward, Alonso-Alonso, Miguel, Pascual-Leone, Alvaro, Gilbert, Daniel, Brem, Anna-Katharine
Format: research tables/charts randomized controlled trial Journal Article
Published: Springer Nature Feb2022
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=154881095&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 154881095
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        15307026
        NA4
      jtl: Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
      issn: 15307026
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Feb2022
      vid: 22
      iid: 1
      pid: 237
      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
    artinfo:
      ui:
        154881095
        152434359
        154881095
        154881095
        10.3758/s13415-021-00936-3
        154881095
      ppf: 112
      ppct: 11
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
      tig:
        atl: Divergent effects of oxytocin on "mind-reading" in healthy males.
      aug:
        au:
          Macchia, Ana
          Zebhauser, Paul Theo
          Salcedo, Stephanie
          Burum, Bethany
          Gold, Edward
          Alonso-Alonso, Miguel
          Pascual-Leone, Alvaro
          Gilbert, Daniel
          Brem, Anna-Katharine
        affil: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Oxytocin Blood
          Theory of Mind
          Men
          Oxytocin Metabolism
          Human
          Male
          Social Cognition Evaluation
          Psychological Tests
          Descriptive Statistics
          Confidence Intervals
          Probability
          Serum Analysis
          Administration, Intranasal
          Oxytocin Administration and Dosage
          Randomized Controlled Trials
          Double-Blind Studies
          Crossover Design
          Male
      ab: The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has been associated with a broad range of human behaviors, particularly in the domain of social cognition, and is being discussed to play a role in a range of psychiatric disorders. Studies using the Reading The Mind In The Eyes Test (RMET) to investigate the role of OT in mental state recognition reported inconsistent outcomes. The present study applied a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design, and included measures of serum OT. Twenty healthy males received intranasal placebo or OT (24 IU) before performing the RMET. Frequentist and Bayesian analyses showed that contrary to previous studies (Domes et al., 2007; Radke & de Bruijn, 2015), individuals performed worse in the OT condition compared to the placebo condition (p = 0.023, Cohen's d = 0.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.08, 1.02], BF10 = 6.93). OT effects did not depend on item characteristics (difficulty, valence, intensity, sex) of the RMET. Furthermore, OT serum levels did not change after intranasal OT administration. Given that similar study designs lead to heterogeneous outcomes, our results highlight the complexity of OT effects and support evidence that OT might even interfere with social cognitive abilities. However, the Bayesian analysis approach shows that there is only moderate evidence that OT influences mind-reading, highlighting the need for larger-scale studies considering the discussed aspects that might have led to divergent study results.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        randomized controlled trial
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N