Vasopressin Modulates Medial Prefrontal Cortex–Amygdala Circuitry during Emotion Processing in Humans

Abstract

The neuropeptide vasopressin is a modulator of mammalian social behavior and emotion, particularly fear, aggression, and anxiety. In humans, the neural circuitry underlying behavioral effects of vasopressin is unknown. Using a double-blind crossover administration of 40 IU of vasopressin or placebo and functional MRI during processing of facial emotions in healthy male volunteers, we show that vasopressin specifically reduces differential activation in the subgenual cingulate cortex. Structural equation modeling of a previously evaluated circuit between amygdala, subgenual cingulate, and supragenual cingulate revealed altered effective connectivity between subgenual and supragenual cingulate under vasopressin. Our data demonstrate an impact of vasopressin on activity and connectivity in the cortical component of a medial prefrontal cortex-amygdala circuit implicated in emotional regulation, providing the first data on the neural basis for the effects of vasopressin on social behavior in humans with potential therapeutic significance for mood and anxiety disorders.

Amygdala Regulation of Fear and Emotionality in Fragile X Syndrome

“…In addition, it has been shown that the known behavioral neuromodulators oxytocin and vasopressin and their receptors, which play a central role in the integration of emotional states [121], are expressed in specific subpopulations of GABAergic neurons in the Ce. Interestingly, chronic or genetic disruptions in the vasopressin or oxytocin system could have consequences for autonomic function contributing to behavioral changes associated with increased anxiety and abnormal fear [122,123]. Therefore, understanding the mechanism that controls the expression of emotional associations in the amygdala, and specifically the intricate inhibitory networks that regulate circuit function in the amygdala, appears to be essential for advancing therapies for the amygdala in FXS.…”

The Effects of Acute Arginine Vasopressin Administration on Social Cognition in Healthy Males

“…Thompson and colleagues showed that AVP enhances facial responses to neutral facial stimuli in men [9] as well as demonstrating sexually dimorphic effects in men and women on affiliative and aggressive facial motor responses to unfamiliar faces of the same sex [10]. Of particular note, neural evidence suggests that intranasal AVP administration alters activity in the temporoparietal junction when processing social information, a key area for theory of mind tasks [11], and potentially alters medial prefrontal cortex connectivity to the amygdala during exposure to emotionally negative faces [12]. Taken together, these findings suggest that intranasal AVP may modulate social cognitive functioning at both behavioral and neural levels.…”

I fear for you: A role for serotonin in moral behavior

“…Because the experiment by Crockett et al (4) was restricted to the behavioral level, this question can only be answered tentatively, although valid hypotheses can be drawn from the literature. Our best leads come from studies examining prosocial neuropeptides, which affect brain areas involved in emotion regulation and social threat signaling (11), particularly the amygdala (12) and subgenual cingulate (13). Several key mediators of neural functions related to fear and anxiety are densely innervated by the serotonergic system, particularly the amygdala and its higherorder regulatory areas in the extended limbic system (11).…”