Intranasal oxytocin enhances positive self-attribution in healthy men

Abstract

ObjectiveA growing body of studies consistently demonstrates that social responsiveness toward others is influenced by the neurohormone oxytocin. However, the potential role of oxytocin for self-perception remains relatively unexplored. Thus, we investigated whether oxytocin administration influences the self-attribution of positive and negative adjectives at the early, effortful stage of self-related information processing. MethodsSixty healthy male participants received either 24I.U. oxytocin or a placebo in a randomized double-blind study before completing a sorting task, in which they were instructed to co-classify, as fast as possible, positive and negative adjectives into either self or non-self categories. ResultsOxytocin-treated participants reported stronger positive attitudes toward themselves compared to placebo. ConclusionsThe present findings demonstrate that oxytocin administration influences the early stage of self-related information processing and suggests that the oxytocinergic system might be involved in psychopathological conditions characterized by a negative representation of self.