Does single-dose intranasal oxytocin facilitate neural recruitment in younger and older adults during negative compared to positive dynamic multimodal expressions?

• Normal adult aging is associated with a decline in socioemotional abilities, and underlying these deficits are age-related neurobiological processes. There is increasing evidence that the neuropeptide oxytocin plays a key role in social cognition, specifically in the ability to recognize emotions. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled within-subjects design, we investigated the extent to which a single dose of 40 IU of intranasal oxytocin facilitates neural recruitment in younger and older adults during negative compared to positive dynamic multimodal expressions. Based on the literature, several regions of interest were selected prior analyses: insula, amygdala, caudate head, fusiform gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Behavioral data showed that younger adults outperformed older adults. and higher accuracy scores were observed during the PL condition compared to the OT condition. This was further qualified by the brain data, where OT induced brain activity reductions in the fusiform gyrus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and medial orbitofrontal cortex in response to negative compared to positive expressions. Both age groups showed hypoactivity in most regions of interest during auditory stimuli compared to visual and multimodal stimuli. In line with previous research, these findings suggest that the effects of oxytocin may vary due to context, social proficiency, and individual factors (i.e. age). Future studies should target how age, presentation modality, and oxytocin interact.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

oxytocin

age-related differences

dynamic stimuli

fusiform gyrus

medialorbitofrontal cortex

dorsomedial prefrontal cortex

Psychology

psykologi

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