Psychiatry Investig.  2018 Jul;15(7):710-716. 10.30773/pi.2018.02.19.

Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Emotion Recognition in Korean Male: A Dose-Response Study

• Shin NY
• Park HY
• Jung WH
• Kwon JS

• KMID: 2428835
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2018.02.19

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Research has shown that intranasal oxytocin affects social cognition and behavior; however, its effects vary based on social context, individual characteristics and dose. The present study aimed to determine effective dose of oxytocin spray on emotion recognition in healthy Korean males.
METHODS
The study followed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Thirty-seven Korean males underwent two experimental sessions, with one week in between. They received either 32 (n=19) or 40 (n=18) international units (IU) of oxytocin and placebo, and then completed a face emotion recognition task. The effect of oxytocin on emotion recognition was examined using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) for each dose condition.
RESULTS
The higher dose (40 IU) was found to improve recognition of happy faces, while the lower dose (32 IU) had no effect. There were no statistical differences in age, education, attachment style or empathic ability between the two dose groups.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that oxytocin increases the ability of Korean males to recognize positive emotion, and this effect is dose-dependent. Additional studies evaluating the effect of higher doses of oxytocin on social cognition will help to determine the optimal dose for Korean populations.

Keyword

Dose; Emotion; Korean; Intranasal; Oxytocin

MeSH Terms

Cognition
Education
Humans
Male*
Oxytocin*
Oxytocin