Abstract

The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin has been reported to enhance emotional empathy in association with reduced amygdala activation, although to date studies have not investigated empathy for individuals expressing self-conscious, moral emotions which engage mentalizing as well as emotion processing networks. In the current randomized, double-blind placebo controlled functional MRI experiment in 70 male and female subjects we have therefore investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) on behavioral and neural responses to embarrassment experienced by others or by self. Results showed that oxytocin significantly increased ratings of both empathic and self-embarrassment and concomitantly decreased skin conductance response, activation in the right amygdala and insula but not in the medial prefrontal cortex. The amygdala effects of oxytocin were associated with the magnitude of the skin conductance response and trait anxiety scores. Overall our results demonstrate that oxytocin increases ratings of self- and other embarrassment and that this is associated with reduced physiological arousal and activity in neural circuits involved in emotional arousal. The neural effects of oxytocin were more pronounced stronger in individuals with high trait anxiety suggesting that it may particularly reduce their anxiety in embarrassing situations.

Highlights

  • Our ability to empathize with others is a core feature influencing our social behavior through allowing us to understand both what others are thinking and feeling and thereby promoting our social interactions with them

  • For the ROI-based analysis we initially explored whether there were either effects of embarrassment type or gender in the PLC group

  • This revealed a main effect of embarrassment type in the mPFC [F(1,33) = 5.54, PFDR = 0.04, η2p = 0.14] and in the amygdala [F(1,33) = 7.21, PFDR = 0.01, η2p = 0.18] but not in the dAI

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Summary

Introduction

Our ability to empathize with others is a core feature influencing our social behavior through allowing us to understand both what others are thinking and feeling and thereby promoting our social interactions with them. As such, impaired ability to empathize with others is often a core feature of disorders where social communication and interactions are dysfunctional, such as autism spectrum disorders [1], depression [2] and psychopathy [3]. The most prevalent view considers empathy as a multidimensional construct including both cognitive (identifying emotions expressed by another person) and emotional components (being aroused by or feeling the same emotion expressed by another person) [5]. The derived empathy network can differ dependent upon the paradigm used [4] making it important to establish a core network that is maintained across different paradigms

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