Elizabeth A Simpson1,2,3, Annika Paukner4, Valentina Sclafani4,5,6, Stefano S K Kaburu4,5,7, Stephen J Suomi4, Pier F Ferrari5,8. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Miami, 5665 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables, FL, 33124, USA. simpsone@miami.edu. 2. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, MD, USA. simpsone@miami.edu. 3. Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy. simpsone@miami.edu. 4. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Poolesville, MD, USA. 5. Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy. 6. School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK. 7. Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA, USA. 8. Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon, Lyon, France.
Abstract
RATIONALE: Exogenous oxytocin administration is widely reported to improve social cognition in human and nonhuman primate adults. Risk factors of impaired social cognition, however, emerge in infancy. Early interventions-when plasticity is greatest-are critical to reverse negative outcomes. OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that oxytocin may exert similar positive effects on infant social cognition, as in adults. To test this idea, we assessed the effectiveness of acute, aerosolized oxytocin on two foundational social cognitive skills: working memory (i.e., ability to briefly hold and process information) and social gaze (i.e., tracking the direction of others' gaze) in 1-month-old nursery-reared macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We did not predict sex differences, but we included sex as a factor in our analyses to test whether our effects would be generalizable across both males and females. RESULTS: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, we found that females were more socially skilled at baseline compared to males, and that oxytocin improved working memory and gaze following, but only in males. CONCLUSIONS: These sex differences, while unexpected, may be due to interactions with gonadal steroids and may be relevant to sexually dimorphic disorders of social cognition, such as male-biased autism spectrum disorder, for which oxytocin has been proposed as a potential treatment. In sum, we report the first evidence that oxytocin may influence primate infant cognitive abilities. Moreover, these behavioral effects appear sexually dimorphic, highlighting the importance of considering sex differences. Oxytocin effects observed in one sex may not be generalizable to the other sex.
RCT Entities:
RATIONALE: Exogenous oxytocin administration is widely reported to improve social cognition in human and nonhuman primate adults. Risk factors of impaired social cognition, however, emerge in infancy. Early interventions-when plasticity is greatest-are critical to reverse negative outcomes. OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that oxytocin may exert similar positive effects on infant social cognition, as in adults. To test this idea, we assessed the effectiveness of acute, aerosolized oxytocin on two foundational social cognitive skills: working memory (i.e., ability to briefly hold and process information) and social gaze (i.e., tracking the direction of others' gaze) in 1-month-old nursery-reared macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We did not predict sex differences, but we included sex as a factor in our analyses to test whether our effects would be generalizable across both males and females. RESULTS: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, we found that females were more socially skilled at baseline compared to males, and that oxytocin improved working memory and gaze following, but only in males. CONCLUSIONS: These sex differences, while unexpected, may be due to interactions with gonadal steroids and may be relevant to sexually dimorphic disorders of social cognition, such as male-biased autism spectrum disorder, for which oxytocin has been proposed as a potential treatment. In sum, we report the first evidence that oxytocin may influence primate infant cognitive abilities. Moreover, these behavioral effects appear sexually dimorphic, highlighting the importance of considering sex differences. Oxytocin effects observed in one sex may not be generalizable to the other sex.
Authors: Christopher S Gabor; Anna Phan; Amy E Clipperton-Allen; Martin Kavaliers; Elena Choleris Journal: Behav Neurosci Date: 2011-12-05 Impact factor: 1.912
Authors: D S Carson; S W Berquist; T H Trujillo; J P Garner; S L Hannah; S A Hyde; R D Sumiyoshi; L P Jackson; J K Moss; M C Strehlow; S H Cheshier; S Partap; A Y Hardan; K J Parker Journal: Mol Psychiatry Date: 2014-11-04 Impact factor: 15.992
Authors: Elizabeth A Simpson; Sarah E Maylott; Roberto J Lazo; Kyla A Leonard; Stefano S K Kaburu; Stephen J Suomi; Annika Paukner; Pier F Ferrari Journal: Infant Behav Dev Date: 2019-09-12
Authors: Elizabeth A Simpson; Valentina Sclafani; Annika Paukner; Stefano S K Kaburu; Stephen J Suomi; Pier F Ferrari Journal: Dev Cogn Neurosci Date: 2017-08-18 Impact factor: 6.464
Authors: Jesus E Madrid; Ozge Oztan; Valentina Sclafani; Laura A Del Rosso; Laura A Calonder; Katie Chun; John P Capitanio; Joseph P Garner; Karen J Parker Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2017-10-11 Impact factor: 4.379