Effects of Oxytocin on Socio-Cognitive Processes: New Insights from Spatio-Temporal EEG Analyses

• Applicant: Dr. Bastian Schiller
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 389805696

The neuropeptide oxytocin is a key modulator of social behavior and social cognition in humans. Given the plethora of intranasal application studies enforcing its role in social interactions, we know little about the effects of oxytocin on specific neural processes. Relying on over a decade of oxytocin research in humans, we have distilled four distinct oxytocin hypotheses: the Anxiety Reduction Hypothesis, Social Motivation Hypothesis, Social Salience Hypothesis, and Interactionist Hypothesis. Neuroimaging methods enable us to empirically test these hypotheses. In the spatial domain, metabolic neuroimaging studies have generated important insights about oxytocin-induced changes in neural activity during social interactions. In contrast, in the temporal domain, it is still largely unknown how oxytocin administration affects the dynamics of socio-cognitive neural processes. Therefore, in the current project, we intend to focus on various spatio-temporal analyses of electrophysiological brain activity in order to study how oxytocin affects the temporal dynamics of human social cognition and behavior.The goals of this project are to explore the effects of oxytocin on the temporal dynamics of the socio-cognitive processes associated with trust decisions (Subproject 1) and on resting neural networks (Subproject 2). After having received placebo or oxytocin via intranasal administration, participants will interact in an innovative trust game in which interaction partners are represented by computer-generated face photos. We will maintain experimental control over two attributes of these faces (threat, attractiveness) to put the distinct oxytocin hypotheses to an empirical test. Utilizing an innovative spatio-temporal analysis of event-related potentials, we aim to identify and time the entire sequence of neural processes during trust decisions. This analytic approach alone will enable us to answer the following research questions: How does oxytocin affect the intensity of socio-cognitive processes (intensify versus dampen)? How does oxytocin affect the duration of socio-cognitive processes (accelerate versus prolong)? How does oxytocin affect the type of socio-cognitive processes (eliminate versus add)? Furthermore, utilizing a spatio-temporal analysis of resting electroencephalography, we will analyze how oxytocin affects the occurrence of the neural resting networks associated with specific functions. Regarding all these research questions, we will derive specific predictions from the distinct oxytocin hypotheses. We hope to shed light on the validity of these hypotheses with respect to the effects of oxytocin on neural processing in social-cognitive behavior by empirically testing these predictions. We are confident that this project`s results are of interest to a wide variety of researchers including those in the areas of emotion processing, social interaction and cognition, and psychoneuroendocrinology.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Markus Heinrichs
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Alfons Hamm; Dr. Mirella Walker