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Higashida H, Oshima Y, Yamamoto Y. Oxytocin transported from the blood across the blood-brain barrier by receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) affects brain function related to social behavior. Peptides 2024; 178:171230. [PMID: 38677620 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2024.171230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide that primarily functions as a hormone controlling female reproductive processes. Since numerous recent studies have shown that single and repetitive administrations of OT increase trust, social interaction, and maternal behaviors in humans and animals, OT is considered a key molecule that regulates social memory and behavior. Furthermore, OT binds to receptors for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), and it has been demonstrated that loss of RAGE in the brain vascular endothelial cells of mice fails to increase brain OT concentrations following peripheral OT administration. This leads to the hypothesis that RAGE is involved in the direct transport of OT, allowing it access to the brain by transporting it across the blood-brain barrier; however, this hypothesis is only based on limited evidence. Herein, we review the recent results related to this hypothesis, such as the mode of transport of OT in the blood circulation to the brain via different forms of RAGE, including membrane-bound full-length RAGE and soluble RAGE. We further review the modulation of brain function and social behavior, which seem to be mediated by RAGE-dependent OT. Overall, this review mostly confirms that RAGE enables the recruitment of circulating OT to the brain, thereby influencing social behavior. The requirement for further studies considering the physiological aspects of RAGE is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haruhiro Higashida
- Department of Basic Research on Social Recognition and Memory, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan.
| | - Yu Oshima
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Vascular Biology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan
| | - Yasuhiko Yamamoto
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Vascular Biology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan
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Bortolini T, Laport MC, Latgé-Tovar S, Fischer R, Zahn R, de Oliveira-Souza R, Moll J. The extended neural architecture of human attachment: An fMRI coordinate-based meta-analysis of affiliative studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 159:105584. [PMID: 38367888 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
Functional imaging studies and clinical evidence indicate that cortical areas relevant to social cognition are closely integrated with evolutionarily conserved basal forebrain structures and neighboring regions, enabling human attachment and affiliative emotions. The neural circuitry of human affiliation is continually being unraveled as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) becomes increasingly prevalent, with studies examining human brain responses to various attachment figures. However, previous fMRI meta-analyses on affiliative stimuli have encountered challenges, such as low statistical power and the absence of robustness measures. To address these issues, we conducted an exhaustive coordinate-based meta-analysis of 79 fMRI studies, focusing on personalized affiliative stimuli, including one's infants, family, romantic partners, and friends. We employed complementary coordinate-based analyses (Activation Likelihood Estimation and Signed Differential Mapping) and conducted a robustness analysis of the results. Findings revealed cluster convergence in cortical and subcortical structures related to reward and motivation, salience detection, social bonding, and cognition. Our study thoroughly explores the neural correlates underpinning affiliative responses, effectively overcoming the limitations noted in previous meta-analyses. It provides an extensive view of the neural substrates associated with affiliative stimuli, illuminating the intricate interaction between cortical and subcortical regions. Our findings significantly contribute to understanding the neurobiology of human affiliation, expanding the known human attachment circuitry beyond the traditional basal forebrain regions observed in other mammals to include uniquely human isocortical structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago Bortolini
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; IDOR - Pioneer Science Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Maria Clara Laport
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Sofia Latgé-Tovar
- Institute of Psychiatry, Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Ronald Fischer
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; IDOR - Pioneer Science Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil; School of Psychology, PO Box 600, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
| | - Roland Zahn
- Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; The Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jorge Moll
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; IDOR - Pioneer Science Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil
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3
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Habouba N, Talmon R, Kraus D, Farah R, Apter A, Steinberg T, Radhakrishnan R, Barazany D, Horowitz-Kraus T. Parent-child couples display shared neural fingerprints while listening to stories. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2883. [PMID: 38311616 PMCID: PMC10838923 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53518-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Neural fingerprinting is a method to identify individuals from a group of people. Here, we established a new connectome-based identification model and used diffusion maps to show that biological parent-child couples share functional connectivity patterns while listening to stories. These shared fingerprints enabled the identification of children and their biological parents from a group of parents and children. Functional patterns were evident in both cognitive and sensory brain networks. Defining "typical" shared biological parent-child brain patterns may enable predicting or even preventing impaired parent-child connections that develop due to genetic or environmental causes. Finally, we argue that the proposed framework opens new opportunities to link similarities in connectivity patterns to behavioral, psychological, and medical phenomena among other populations. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the neural fingerprint that represents distinct biological parent-child couples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nir Habouba
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ronen Talmon
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Dror Kraus
- The Institute of Child Neurology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | - Rola Farah
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Alan Apter
- The Department of Psychological Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | - Tamar Steinberg
- The Department of Psychological Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | | | - Daniel Barazany
- The Alfredo Federico Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
- The Institute of Child Neurology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel.
- Department of Neuropsychology, Center for Neurodevelopmental and Imaging Research (CNIR), Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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4
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Zagoory-Sharon O, Levine A, Feldman R. Human sweat contains oxytocin. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2023; 158:106407. [PMID: 37797406 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Oxytocin (OT) has been detected in various body fluids, including blood, urine, saliva, breastmilk, and spinal fluid. Consistent with models that regard skin as a social organ and in line with studies demonstrating that skin cells express both OT and its receptor, our study sought to examine the presence of OT in human sweat. METHODS Overall, 553 individuals participated in a pilot study and three experiments. Firstly, 50 participants provided sweat after engaging in various sports for different durations. Secondly, 26 participants provided sweat from forehead, upper-chest, forearm, and underarm, including 11 in natural setting and 15 following OT administration and a 30-minute exercise. Thirdly, of 435 volunteers, 97 provided sufficient axillary sweat for assaying. Of these, 84 participated in a naturalistic experiment that involved saliva and sweat collection in response to physical activity in either solitary or social settings. OT and testosterone (TS) were assayed in sweat and saliva. RESULTS Intense activity for at least 25 min was required to produce sufficient sweat for OT analysis. Highest OT levels were found in axillary sweat compared to sweat from the forehead, upper-chest, and forearm. Salivary OT and TS increased after both solitary and social physical activity; however, higher sweat OT was found after solitary sports. Post-hoc preliminary findings indicate that highly extroverted individuals exercising in solitary environments showed the highest sweat OT levels. CONCLUSIONS Findings demonstrate, for the first time, the presence of OT in human sweat and show the feasibility of its measurement. Much further research is required to illuminate how sweat OT is impacted by personality and social context and to uncover the role of the skin in OT production.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ari Levine
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Israel
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Israel
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5
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Feldman R. Women in science: myth, harsh reality, or advantage. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1247242. [PMID: 38021232 PMCID: PMC10654634 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1247242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
To initiate discussion on women in science, we begin with Gerald Edelman's definition: "Science is imagination in the service of the verifiable truth," which underscores "verifiability," truth reached by evidence, as the pathway science charts to Truth. "Verifiability" is named after the Roman Goddess Veritas, the daughter of Cronos and the mother of Virtus, suggesting that mythology viewed science as embodied by a female, embedded in its historical time, and aimed to breed values. We contemplate three perspectives on the topic and discuss their potential risks. The Veracity (Veritas) Perspective holds that science is impartial to the gender, race, political camp, or religious affiliation of its practitioner and from this perspective "women in sciences" is an oxymoron; science is, essentially, genderless. We argue that this perspective is misleading. Becoming a scientist requires education, resources, encouragement, training, role models, time, and funding, and the lack of such provisions banned women from the gates of Truth. The Harsh Reality perspective brings data presenting a grim picture. From 1902 to 2022 only 3.6% of Nobel Prizes in sciences were awarded to women and percentages of women in top academic positions are a third or lower across the US and Europe despite earning about 50% of PhDs in sciences. We contemplate internal and external reasons for this reality. Finally, the Potential Advantage position asks whether women may have unique sensitivities in the road to cumulative knowledge. We base our discussion on 20th century philosophical models that call to move from the metaphysical and abstract to the daily and contextual in the acquisition of knowledge and on research describing the distinct neural pathways to motherhood and fatherhood. We conclude by highlighting our unique historical time and the emergence of novel topics in neuroscience through the work of female and male scientists; interaction synchrony, inter-brain communication, and social and affiliative neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Feldman
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
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6
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Faraji J, Metz GAS. Toward reframing brain-social dynamics: current assumptions and future challenges. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1211442. [PMID: 37484686 PMCID: PMC10359502 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1211442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary analyses suggest that the human social brain and sociality appeared together. The two fundamental tools that accelerated the concurrent emergence of the social brain and sociality include learning and plasticity. The prevailing core idea is that the primate brain and the cortex in particular became reorganised over the course of evolution to facilitate dynamic adaptation to ongoing changes in physical and social environments. Encouraged by computational or survival demands or even by instinctual drives for living in social groups, the brain eventually learned how to learn from social experience via its massive plastic capacity. A fundamental framework for modeling these orchestrated dynamic responses is that social plasticity relies upon neuroplasticity. In the present article, we first provide a glimpse into the concepts of plasticity, experience, with emphasis on social experience. We then acknowledge and integrate the current theoretical concepts to highlight five key intertwined assumptions within social neuroscience that underlie empirical approaches for explaining the brain-social dynamics. We suggest that this epistemological view provides key insights into the ontology of current conceptual frameworks driving future research to successfully deal with new challenges and possible caveats in favour of the formulation of novel assumptions. In the light of contemporary societal challenges, such as global pandemics, natural disasters, violent conflict, and other human tragedies, discovering the mechanisms of social brain plasticity will provide new approaches to support adaptive brain plasticity and social resilience.
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7
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Harduf A, Shaked A, Yaniv AU, Salomon R. Disentangling the Neural Correlates of Agency, Ownership and Multisensory Processing. Neuroimage 2023:120255. [PMID: 37414232 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2022] [Revised: 06/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The experience of the self as an embodied agent in the world is an essential aspect of human consciousness. This experience arises from the feeling of control over one's bodily actions, termed the Sense of Agency, and the feeling that the body belongs to the self, Body Ownership. Despite long-standing philosophical and scientific interest in the relationship between the body and brain, the neural systems involved in Body Ownership and Sense of Agency, and especially their interactions, are not yet understood. In this preregistered study using the Moving Rubber Hand Illusion inside an MR-scanner, we aimed to uncover the relationship between Body Ownership and Sense of Agency in the human brain. Importantly, by using both visuomotor and visuotactile stimulations and measuring online trial-by-trial fluctuations in the illusion magnitude, we were able to disentangle brain systems related to objective sensory stimulation and subjective judgments of the bodily-self. Our results indicate that at both the behavioral and neural levels, Body Ownership and Sense of Agency are strongly interrelated. Multisensory regions in the occipital and fronto-parietal regions encoded convergence of sensory stimulation conditions. The subjective judgments of the bodily-self were related to BOLD fluctuations in the Somatosensory cortex and in regions not activated by the sensory conditions, such as the insular cortex and precuneus. Our results highlight the convergence of multisensory processing in specific neural systems for both Body Ownership and Sense of Agency with partially dissociable regions for subjective judgments in regions of the Default Mode Network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Harduf
- The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel; The Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Ariel Shaked
- The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Adi Ulmer Yaniv
- The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel; Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
| | - Roy Salomon
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Haifa University, Haifa 31905, Israel; The Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
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8
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Wever MCM, van Houtum LAEM, Janssen LHC, Wentholt WGM, Spruit IM, Tollenaar MS, Will GJ, Elzinga BM. Neural and Affective Responses to Prolonged Eye Contact with One's Own Adolescent Child and Unfamiliar Others. Neuroimage 2022; 260:119463. [PMID: 35830902 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Eye contact is crucial for the formation and maintenance of social relationships, and plays a key role in facilitating a strong parent-child bond. However, the precise neural and affective mechanisms through which eye contact impacts on parent-child relationships remain elusive. We introduce a task to assess parents' neural and affective responses to prolonged direct and averted gaze coming from their own child, and an unfamiliar child and adult. While in the scanner, 79 parents (n = 44 mothers and n = 35 fathers) were presented with prolonged (16-38 s) videos of their own child, an unfamiliar child, an unfamiliar adult, and themselves (i.e., targets), facing the camera with a direct or an averted gaze. We measured BOLD-responses, tracked parents' eye movements during the videos, and asked them to report on their mood and feelings of connectedness with the targets after each video. Parents reported improved mood and increased feelings of connectedness after prolonged exposure to direct versus averted gaze and these effects were amplified for unfamiliar targets compared to their own child, due to high affect and connectedness ratings after videos of their own child. Neuroimaging results showed that the sight of one's own child was associated with increased activity in middle occipital gyrus, fusiform gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus relative to seeing an unfamiliar child or adult. While we found no robust evidence of specific neural correlates of eye contact (i.e., contrast direct > averted gaze), an exploratory parametric analysis showed that dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) activity increased linearly with duration of eye contact (collapsed across all "other" targets). Eye contact-related dmPFC activity correlated positively with increases in feelings of connectedness, suggesting that this region may drive feelings of connectedness during prolonged eye contact with others. These results underline the importance of prolonged eye contact for affiliative processes and provide first insights into its neural correlates. This may pave the way for new research in individuals or pairs in whom affiliative processes are disrupted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam C M Wever
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Lisanne A E M van Houtum
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Loes H C Janssen
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Wilma G M Wentholt
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Iris M Spruit
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Marieke S Tollenaar
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Geert-Jan Will
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Bernet M Elzinga
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
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9
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McParlin Z, Cerritelli F, Friston KJ, Esteves JE. Therapeutic Alliance as Active Inference: The Role of Therapeutic Touch and Synchrony. Front Psychol 2022; 13:783694. [PMID: 35250723 PMCID: PMC8892201 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Recognizing and aligning individuals' unique adaptive beliefs or "priors" through cooperative communication is critical to establishing a therapeutic relationship and alliance. Using active inference, we present an empirical integrative account of the biobehavioral mechanisms that underwrite therapeutic relationships. A significant mode of establishing cooperative alliances-and potential synchrony relationships-is through ostensive cues generated by repetitive coupling during dynamic touch. Established models speak to the unique role of affectionate touch in developing communication, interpersonal interactions, and a wide variety of therapeutic benefits for patients of all ages; both neurophysiologically and behaviorally. The purpose of this article is to argue for the importance of therapeutic touch in establishing a therapeutic alliance and, ultimately, synchrony between practitioner and patient. We briefly overview the importance and role of therapeutic alliance in prosocial and clinical interactions. We then discuss how cooperative communication and mental state alignment-in intentional communication-are accomplished using active inference. We argue that alignment through active inference facilitates synchrony and communication. The ensuing account is extended to include the role of (C-) tactile afferents in realizing the beneficial effect of therapeutic synchrony. We conclude by proposing a method for synchronizing the effects of touch using the concept of active inference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe McParlin
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Karl J. Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jorge E. Esteves
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational Ltd., Gzira, Malta
- Research Department, University College of Osteopathy, London, United Kingdom
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10
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Carter CS. Oxytocin and love: Myths, metaphors and mysteries. COMPREHENSIVE PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY 2022; 9:100107. [PMID: 35755926 PMCID: PMC9216351 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Oxytocin is a peptide molecule with a multitude of physiological and behavioral functions. Based on its association with reproduction - including social bonding, sexual behavior, birth and maternal behavior - oxytocin also has been called “the love hormone.” This essay specifically examines association and parallels between oxytocin and love. However, many myths and gaps in knowledge remain concerning both. A few of these are described here and we hypothesize that the potential benefits of both love and oxytocin may be better understood in light of interactions with more ancient systems, including specifically vasopressin and the immune system. Oxytocin is anti-inflammatory and is associated with recently evolved, social solutions to a variety of challenges necessary for mammalian survival and reproduction. The shared functions of oxytocin and love have profound implications for health and longevity, including the prevention and treatment of excess inflammation and related disorders, especially those occurring in early life and during periods of chronic threat or disease. Oxytocin is a peptide molecule with functions that support a sense of safety, sociality, as well as survival and reproduction. Oxytocin is associated with social and neuroimmune solutions to chronic stress. The related, but more primitive, peptide vasopressin supports more individualistic survival strategies. Controversies and myths surround the properties of oxytocin and love.
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11
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Abraham E, Wang Y, Svob C, Semanek D, Gameroff MJ, Shankman SA, Weissman MM, Talati A, Posner J. Organization of the social cognition network predicts future depression and interpersonal impairment: a prospective family-based study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:531-542. [PMID: 34162998 PMCID: PMC8674240 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01065-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Deficits in social cognition and functioning are common in major depressive disorder (MDD). Still, no study into the pathophysiology of MDD has examined the social cognition-related neural pathways through which familial risk for MDD leads to depression and interpersonal impairments. Using resting-state fMRI, we applied a graph theoretical analysis to quantify the influence of nodes within the fronto-temporo-parietal cortical social cognition network in 108 generation 2 and generation 3 offspring at high and low-risk for MDD, defined by the presence or absence, respectively, of moderate to severe MDD in generation 1. New MDD episodes, future depressive symptoms, and interpersonal impairments were tested for associations with social cognition nodal influence, using regression analyses applied in a generalized estimating equations approach. Increased familial risk was associated with reduced nodal influence within the network, and this predicted new depressive episodes, worsening depressive symptomatology, and interpersonal impairments, 5-8 years later. Findings remained significant after controlling for current depressive/anxiety symptoms and current/lifetime MDD and anxiety disorders. Path-analysis models indicate that increased familial risk impacted offspring's brain function in two ways. First, high familial risk was indirectly associated with future depression, both new MDD episodes and symptomatology, via reduced nodal influence of the right posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG). Second, high familial risk was indirectly associated with future interpersonal impairments via reduced nodal influence of right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Finally, reduced nodal influence was associated with high familial risk in (1) those who had never had MDD at the time of scanning and (2) a subsample (n = 52) rescanned 8 years later. Together, findings reveal a potential pathway for the intergenerational transmission of vulnerability via the aberrant social cognition network organization and suggest using the connectome of neural network related to social cognition to identify intervention and prevention targets for those particularly at risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eyal Abraham
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
- Divisions of Translational Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Yun Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
- Child Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Connie Svob
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
- Divisions of Translational Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Semanek
- Child Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marc J Gameroff
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
- Divisions of Translational Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stewart A Shankman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
| | - Myrna M Weissman
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
- Divisions of Translational Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ardesheer Talati
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
- Divisions of Translational Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan Posner
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
- Child Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
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12
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Ulmer-Yaniv A, Waidergoren S, Shaked A, Salomon R, Feldman R. Neural Representation of the Parent-Child Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 17:609-624. [PMID: 34893911 PMCID: PMC9250301 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Attachment theory is built on the assumption of consistency; the mother–infant bond is thought to underpin the life-long representations individuals construct of attachment relationships. Still, consistency in the individual’s neural response to attachment-related stimuli representing his or her entire relational history has not been investigated. Mothers and children were followed across two decades and videotaped in infancy (3–6 months), childhood (9–12 years) and young adulthood (18–24 years). In adulthood, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while exposed to videos of own mother–child interactions (Self) vs unfamiliar interactions (Other). Self-stimuli elicited greater activations across preregistered nodes of the human attachment network, including thalamus-to-brainstem, amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula and temporal cortex. Critically, self-stimuli were age-invariant in most regions of interest despite large variability in social behavior, and Bayesian analysis showed strong evidence for lack of age-related differences. Psycho–physiological interaction analysis indicated that self-stimuli elicited tighter connectivity between ACC and anterior insula, consolidating an interface associating information from exteroceptive and interceptive sources to sustain attachment representations. Child social engagement behavior was individually stable from infancy to adulthood and linked with greater ACC and insula response to self-stimuli. Findings demonstrate overlap in circuits sustaining parental and child attachment and accord with perspectives on the continuity of attachment across human development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adi Ulmer-Yaniv
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Shani Waidergoren
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
| | - Ariel Shaked
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Roy Salomon
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Correspondence should be addressed to Ruth Feldman Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, 8 Ha'Universita st., Herzliya 4610101, Israel. E-mail:
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