Oxytocin enhances resting-state connectivity between amygdala and medial frontal cortex

Abstract

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) plays an important role in complex socio-affective behaviours such as affiliation, attachment, stress and anxiety. Previous studies have focused on the amygdala as an important target of OXT's effects. However, the effects of OXT on connectivity of the amygdala with cortical regions such as medial frontal cortex, an important mediator of social cognition and emotion regulation, remain unexplored. In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design, 15 volunteers received intranasal OXT or placebo prior to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. OXT significantly increased connectivity between both amygdalae and rostral medial frontal cortex (rmFC), while having only negligible effects on coupling with other brain regions. These results demonstrate that OXT is a robust and highly selective enhancer of amygdala connectivity with rmFC, a region critical to social cognition and emotion regulation, and add to our understanding of the neural mechanisms by which OXT modulates complex social and cognitive behaviours.

Intranasal Oxytocin Normalizes Amygdala Functional Connectivity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“…In contrast to a previous intranasal fMRI resting-state study in which increased amygdala to vmPFC connectivity was found after OT administration in healthy individuals (Sripada et al, 2013), we did not find OT administration effects in our healthy trauma-exposed controls, except for the dampening of right BLA to right dACC connectivity in male controls. It has been suggested that the effects of OT depend on inter-individual and contextual factors (Bartz et al, 2011) and may be more beneficial in those who have something to gain regarding fear regulation (Labuschagne et al, 2010;Olff et al, 2013).…”

“…Previously, decreased amygdala reactivity toward emotional stimuli was found after intranasal OT administration in healthy males (Kirsch et al, 2005), females with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (Bertsch et al, 2013), males with generalized social anxiety disorder (GSAD) (Labuschagne et al, 2010), and male and female PTSD patients (Koch et al, 2015). In addition, OT administration increased resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and vmPFC in healthy males (Sripada et al, 2013) and in males with GSAD, normalizing the diminished functional connectivity observed under placebo in GSAD patients (Dodhia et al, 2014). Notably, higher amygdala reactivity in PTSD patients before treatment predicted worse treatment outcome, possibly due to (more) impaired extinction learning and fear regulation (Bryant et al, 2008b).…”

Neurophysiological effects of acute oxytocin administration: systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled imaging studies

“…All of the fMRI studies presented in this review have investigated some aspect of the limbic system. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][35][36][37][38][39] Its role has been one of the focuses of neuroendocrine research, most notably research on OXT, and has mainly revolved around the role of the amygdala, which is explored in greater detail below. This systematic review explores the role of other areas in the limbic system in addition to the amygdala relative to OXT.…”

Intranasal Oxytocin Administration Dampens Amygdala Reactivity towards Emotional Faces in Male and Female PTSD Patients

“…In addition, functional MRI (fMRI) studies have shown that OT administration dampened amygdala reactivity toward emotional stimuli in healthy males (Kirsch et al, 2005), males with generalized social anxiety disorder (GSAD; Labuschagne et al, 2010) and females with borderline personality disorder (BPD; Bertsch et al, 2013), although findings for females have been mixed (Domes et al, 2010). Furthermore, OT administration resulted in increased resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and vmPFC in healthy males (Sripada et al, 2013) and in patients with GSAD (Dodhia et al, 2014), possibly enhancing top-down control over the fear response.…”