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

Gregor Domes,Claus Normann,Markus Heinrichs

doi:10.1186/s12888-016-0794-9

Gregor Domes, Claus Normann + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0794-9

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Abstract

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.

Highlights

Chronic depression is characterized by a high degree of early life trauma, psychosocial impairment, and deficits in social cognition
Aims and hypotheses The present study aimed to investigate whether a single dose of intranasally applied oxytocin would modulate attention towards social signals of threat and social approach in a group of patients with chronic depression
There are very few studies addressing visual attention to specific social cues in depression and none examining chronic depression, there is initial evidence that patients suffering from major depression display reduced attention to positive social cues and increased attention to negative ones [17, 18, 45]

Summary

Introduction

Chronic depression is characterized by a high degree of early life trauma, psychosocial impairment, and deficits in social cognition. We investigated whether oxytocin modulates attention to emotional faces in patients with chronic depression. Facial emotion recognition and attentional bias in depression Facial emotion recognition contributes to the cognitive facet of empathy and represents a basic requisite to understanding social interactions. Numerous studies have assessed facial emotion recognition in major depression (for a review: [8]). Facial emotion recognition and attentional bias towards negative facial cues have not been assessed in chronic depression. Given the high degree of psychosocial impairment that chronically depressed patients suffer, better understanding of the attentional processes for social signals in chronic depression and their neurobiological modulation might be especially relevant for clinical treatment

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