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| Title |
Oxytocin enhances brain reward system responses in men viewing the face of their female partner
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, November 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.1314190110 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Dirk Scheele, Andrea Wille, Keith M. Kendrick, Birgit Stoffel-Wagner, Benjamin Becker, Onur Güntürkün, Wolfgang Maier, René Hurlemann |
| Abstract |
The biological mechanisms underlying long-term partner bonds in humans are unclear. The evolutionarily conserved neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is associated with the formation of partner bonds in some species via interactions with brain dopamine reward systems. However, whether it plays a similar role in humans has as yet not been established. Here, we report the results of a discovery and a replication study, each involving a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject, pharmaco-functional MRI experiment with 20 heterosexual pair-bonded male volunteers. In both experiments, intranasal OXT treatment (24 IU) made subjects perceive their female partner's face as more attractive compared with unfamiliar women but had no effect on the attractiveness of other familiar women. This enhanced positive partner bias was paralleled by an increased response to partner stimuli compared with unfamiliar women in brain reward regions including the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). In the left NAcc, OXT even augmented the neural response to the partner compared with a familiar woman, indicating that this finding is partner-bond specific rather than due to familiarity. Taken together, our results suggest that OXT could contribute to romantic bonds in men by enhancing their partner's attractiveness and reward value compared with other women. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand | 86 | 15% |
| Japan | 37 | 7% |
| United States | 25 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | <1% |
| Mexico | 5 | <1% |
| South Africa | 2 | <1% |
| Korea, Republic of | 2 | <1% |
| Canada | 2 | <1% |
| Turkey | 2 | <1% |
| Other | 18 | 3% |
| Unknown | 377 | 67% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 537 | 96% |
| Scientists | 17 | 3% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 5 | <1% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 433 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 5 | 1% |
| Germany | 2 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
| Chile | 1 | <1% |
| South Africa | 1 | <1% |
| Hungary | 1 | <1% |
| China | 1 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 2 | <1% |
| Unknown | 416 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 111 | 26% |
| Student > Bachelor | 58 | 13% |
| Researcher | 55 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 34 | 8% |
| Professor | 25 | 6% |
| Other | 89 | 21% |
| Unknown | 61 | 14% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 136 | 31% |
| Neuroscience | 70 | 16% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 65 | 15% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 25 | 6% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 11 | 3% |
| Other | 45 | 10% |
| Unknown | 81 | 19% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 715. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 13 April 2024.
All research outputs
#30,599
of 26,545,486 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#881
of 105,201 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#184
of 322,246 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#9
of 933 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,545,486 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 105,201 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 322,246 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 933 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.