Blending oxytocin and dopamine with everyday creativity

Richard P Ebstein,Serenella Tolomeo,Yue Xiong,Qianzi Tang,Mike Cheung,Zhen Lei,Poh San Lai,Fabio Malavasi,Soo Hong Chew,Benjamin Becker,Dario Angeles,Anne Chong

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-95724-x

Abstract

Converging evidence suggests that oxytocin (OT) is associated with creative thinking (CT) and that release of OT depends on ADP ribosyl-cyclases (CD38 and CD157). Neural mechanisms of CT and OT show a strong association with dopaminergic (DA) pathways, yet the link between CT and CD38, CD157, dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) peripheral gene expression remain inconclusive, thus limiting our understanding of the neurobiology of CT. To address this issue, two principal domains of CT, divergent thinking (AUT), were assessed. In men, both AUT is associated with gene expression of CD38, CD157, and their interaction CD38 × CD157. There were no significant associations for DA expression (DRD2, COMT, DRD2 × COMT) on both CT measures. However, analysis of the interactions of OT and DA systems reveal significant interactions for AUT in men. The full model explained a sizable 39% of the variance in females for the total CT score. The current findings suggest that OT and DA gene expression contributed significantly to cognition and CT phenotype. This provides the first empirical foundation of a more refined understanding of the molecular landscape of CT.

Highlights

Converging evidence suggests that oxytocin (OT) is associated with creative thinking (CT) and that release of OT depends on ADP ribosyl-cyclases (CD38 and CD157)
Participants were inventoried on the Creativity measures of alternative uses test (AUT), NEOO, Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices38 (RPM), CD38, CD157, dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) and COMT gene expressions were included in this study
There are no significant differences between sex and measures of AUT, NEOO, or the gene expressions of CD157, DRD2, COMT

Summary

Introduction

Converging evidence suggests that oxytocin (OT) is associated with creative thinking (CT) and that release of OT depends on ADP ribosyl-cyclases (CD38 and CD157). Neural mechanisms of CT and OT show a strong association with dopaminergic (DA) pathways, yet the link between CT and CD38, CD157, dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) peripheral gene expression remain inconclusive, limiting our understanding of the neurobiology of CT. To address this issue, two principal domains of CT, divergent thinking (AUT), were assessed. Several studies have tested specific polymorphic genes for a role in c reativity[6,7] These candidate gene studies, albeit small, especially highlight two neurotransmitter systems in contributing to creativity: oxytocinergic,dopaminergic and noradrenergic pathways. We chose to examine both homologues in the current study

Methods

Results

Conclusion