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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 25, 2008, 28(26):6607-6615; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4572-07.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Oxytocin Attenuates Affective Evaluations of Conditioned Faces and Amygdala Activity

Predrag Petrovic, Raffael Kalisch, Tania Singer, and Raymond J. Dolan

Wellcome Trust Functional Imaging Laboratory, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to Predrag Petrovic, Wellcome Trust Functional Imaging Laboratory, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Email: predrag.petrovic{at}ki.se

Social relations between humans critically depend on our affective experiences of others. Oxytocin enhances prosocial behavior, but its effect on humans' affective experience of others is not known. We tested whether oxytocin influences affective ratings, and underlying brain activity, of faces that have been aversively conditioned. Using a standard conditioning procedure, we induced differential negative affective ratings in faces exposed to an aversive conditioning compared with nonconditioning manipulation. This differential negative evaluative effect was abolished by treatment with oxytocin, an effect associated with an attenuation of activity in anterior medial temporal and anterior cingulate cortices. In amygdala and fusiform gyrus, this modulation was stronger for faces with direct gaze, relative to averted gaze, consistent with a relative specificity for socially relevant cues. The data suggest that oxytocin modulates the expression of evaluative conditioning for socially relevant faces via influences on amygdala and fusiform gyrus, an effect that may explain its prosocial effects.

Key words: oxytocin; amygdala; fusiform gyrus; face stimuli; gaze; affective value

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Received June 7, 2007; revised Dec. 13, 2007; accepted Jan. 23, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Predrag Petrovic, Wellcome Trust Functional Imaging Laboratory, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Email: predrag.petrovic{at}ki.se

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