Oxytocin and Reduction of Social Threat Hypersensitivity in Women With Borderline Personality Disorder
TL;DR: Borderline patients exhibit a hypersensitivity to social threat in early, reflexive stages of information processing, and oxytocin may decrease social threat hypersensitivity and thus reduce anger and aggressive behavior in borderline personality disorder or other psychiatric disorders with enhanced threat-driven reactive aggression.
Abstract: Objective: Patients with borderline personality disorder are characterized by emotional hyperarousal with increased stress levels, anger proneness, and hostile, impulsive behaviors. They tend to ascribe anger to ambiguous facial expressions and exhibit enhanced and prolonged reactions in response to threatening social cues, associated with enhanced and prolonged amygdala responses. Because the intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin has been shown to improve facial recognition and to shift attention away from negative social information, the authors investigated whether borderline patients would benefit from oxytocin administration. Method: In a randomized placebocontrolled double-blind group design, 40 nonmedicated, adult female patients with a current DSM-IV diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (two patients were excluded based on hormonal analyses) and 41 healthy women, matched on age, education, and IQ, took part in an emotion classification task 45 minutes after intranasal administration of 26 IU of oxytocin or placebo. Dependent variables were latencies and number or initial reflexive eye movements measured by eye tracking, manual response latencies, and blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses of theamygdalato angryandfearfulcompared with happy facial expressions. Results: Borderline patients exhibited more and faster initial fixation changes to the eyes of angry faces combined with increased amygdala activation in response to angry faces compared with the control group. These abnormal behavioral and neural patterns were normalized after oxytocin administration. Conclusions: Borderline patients exhibit a hypersensitivity to social threat in early, reflexive stages of information processing. Oxytocin may decrease social threat hypersensitivity and thus reduce anger and aggressive behavior in borderline personality disorder or other psychiatric disorders with enhanced threat-driven reactive aggression. (Am J Psychiatry 2013; 170:1169–1177)
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TL;DR: Die Borderline-Personlichkeitsstorung ist durch gestorte Affektregulation, veranderte Schmerzverarbeitung, Dissoziation, Impulsivitat and interpersonelle Probleme gekennzeichnet.
Abstract: Die Borderline-Personlichkeitsstorung (BPS) ist durch gestorte Affektregulation, veranderte Schmerzverarbeitung, Dissoziation, Impulsivitat und interpersonelle Probleme gekennzeichnet. Diese psychopathologische Kernbereiche konnten mit Veranderungen auf neuronaler Ebene in Verbindung gebracht werden: Im Vergleich zu Gesunden zeigten Patienten mit BPS eine starkere Aktivierung in (para)limbischen Gehirnregionen, die mit Emotionsverarbeitung assoziiert sind (z. B. Amygdala, Insel), und eine verminderte Rekrutierung cingularer und prafrontaler Gehirnareale, die mit exekutiven und regulatorischen Prozessen assoziiert sind (z. B. anteriorer Cingularer Cortex, orbitofrontaler Cortex, dorsomedialer und dorsolateraler prafrontaler Cortex). Erste Studien legen einen Einfluss von Psychotherapie auf neuronale Korrelate der Emotionsverarbeitung nahe. Mit dem Neurofeedback-Training ist zudem ein Verfahren entwickelt worden, das gezielt an neurowissenschaftlichen Forschungsbefunden ansetzt und Interventionen auf neuron...
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the results reveal significant interaction effects of sex and treatments on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala and hippocampus in a seed-to-voxel analysis.
Abstract: Possible interactions of the neuropeptide oxytocin and the sex hormone estradiol may contribute to previously observed sex-specific effects of oxytocin on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala and hippocampus. Therefore, we used a placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel-group functional magnetic resonance imaging study design and measured amygdala and hippocampus rsFC in healthy men (n = 116) and free-cycling women (n = 111), who received estradiol gel (2 mg) or placebo before the intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo. Our results reveal significant interaction effects of sex and treatments on rsFC of the amygdala and hippocampus in a seed-to-voxel analysis. In men, both oxytocin and estradiol significantly decreased rsFC between the left amygdala and the right and left lingual gyrus, the right calcarine fissure, and the right superior parietal gyrus compared to placebo, while the combined treatment produced a significant increase in rsFC. In women, the single treatments significantly increased the rsFC between the right hippocampus and the left anterior cingulate gyrus, whereas the combined treatment had the opposite effect. Collectively, our study indicates that exogenous oxytocin and estradiol have different region-specific effects on rsFC in women and men and that the combined treatment may produce antagonistic effects.
2 citations
TL;DR: The trastorno limite de personalidad (TLP) as discussed by the authors is the paradigma of trastornos severo de la personalidad, e.g., comportamiento suicida, autolesion no suicible, comport amiento agresivo, and reactividad emocional.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a narrative overview of the literature on perinatal mental health and human-animal interaction (HAI) and propose a new conceptual framework that depicts ways in which HAI during the per-inatal period may influence maternal and child health and wellbeing.
Abstract: There is a paucity of research exploring how relationships with household pets may impact maternal mental health. We are unaware of any study to date that has examined associations between individuals' relationships with their pets and psychological adjustment in the perinatal period. Using a biobehavioral lens, this paper provides a narrative overview of the literature on perinatal mental health and human-animal interaction (HAI). We focus on the role of social relationships, stress, and stress reduction in relation to perinatal mental health; the role of HAI in perceptions of social support, stressors, and stress reduction; and gaps in empirical knowledge concerning the role of HAI in perinatal mental health. Finally, we integrate contemporary biobehavioral models of perinatal mental health and HAI (i.e., Comprehensive Model of Mental Health during the Perinatal Period and the HAI-HPA Transactional Model) to propose a new conceptual framework that depicts ways in which HAI during the perinatal period may influence maternal and child health and wellbeing. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to consider the role of HAI in biobehavioral responses and mental health during the perinatal period. We conclude with recommendations for future research and improved perinatal care.
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References
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TL;DR: An anatomical parcellation of the spatially normalized single-subject high-resolution T1 volume provided by the Montreal Neurological Institute was performed and it is believed that this tool is an improvement for the macroscopical labeling of activated area compared to labeling assessed using the Talairach atlas brain.
13,678 citations
"Oxytocin and Reduction of Social Th..." refers methods in this paper
...Since we hypothesized modulatory effects of oxytocin in the amygdala, we applied a small-volume correction for multiple comparisons in predefined bilateral anatomical amygdala regions of interest (35)....
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TL;DR: Oxytocin seems to enhance the buffering effect of social support on stress responsiveness, concur with data from animal research suggesting an important role of oxytocin as an underlying biological mechanism for stress-protective effects of positive social interactions.
1,760 citations
"Oxytocin and Reduction of Social Th..." refers background in this paper
...In healthy individuals, the intranasal administration of oxytocin reduces anxiety and stress in social situations (15), enhances the recognition of facial expressions (16–19), and shifts attention from negative to positive information (20–22), although individual differences and situational factors seem to play an important role (23)....
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Book•
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: This greatly enlarged new edition of Atlas of the Human Brain provides the most detailed and accurate delineations of brain structure available and includes features which assist in the new fields of neuroscience - functional imaging, resting state imaging and tractography.
Abstract: Material and methods topographic and topometric atlas myeloarchitectonic atlas hierarchical tree.
1,515 citations
"Oxytocin and Reduction of Social Th..." refers methods in this paper
...Anatomical labels for subregions within the amygdala were specified by comparing the location of activation clusters with high-resolution diagrams of the human amygdala as depicted in an anatomical atlas (36)....
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TL;DR: It is shown that human amygdala function is strongly modulated by oxytocin, and this results indicate a neural mechanism for the effects of Oxytocin in social cognition in the human brain and provide a methodology and rationale for exploring therapeutic strategies in disorders in which abnormal amygdala function has been implicated, such as social phobia or autism.
Abstract: In non-human mammals, the neuropeptide oxytocin is a key mediator of complex emotional and social behaviors, including attachment, social recognition, and aggression. Oxytocin reduces anxiety and impacts on fear conditioning and extinction. Recently, oxytocin administration in humans was shown to increase trust, suggesting involvement of the amygdala, a central component of the neurocircuitry of fear and social cognition that has been linked to trust and highly expresses oxytocin receptors in many mammals. However, no human data on the effects of this peptide on brain function were available. Here, we show that human amygdala function is strongly modulated by oxytocin. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to image amygdala activation by fear-inducing visual stimuli in 15 healthy males after double-blind crossover intranasal application of placebo or oxytocin. Compared with placebo, oxytocin potently reduced activation of the amygdala and reduced coupling of the amygdala to brainstem regions implicated in autonomic and behavioral manifestations of fear. Our results indicate a neural mechanism for the effects of oxytocin in social cognition in the human brain and provide a methodology and rationale for exploring therapeutic strategies in disorders in which abnormal amygdala function has been implicated, such as social phobia or autism.
1,477 citations
"Oxytocin and Reduction of Social Th..." refers background in this paper
...anterior) amygdala to negative emotional stimuli (13, 25, 26), whichmay reflect a neural mechanism of its anxiolytic properties (24, 26)....
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TL;DR: OXT and AVP are emerging as targets for novel treatment approaches — particularly in synergistic combination with psychotherapy — for mental disorders characterized by social dysfunction, such as autism, social anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia.
Abstract: The neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are evolutionarily highly conserved mediators in the regulation of complex social cognition and behaviour. Recent studies have investigated the effects of OXT and AVP on human social interaction, the genetic mechanisms of inter-individual variation in social neuropeptide signalling and the actions of OXT and AVP in the human brain as revealed by neuroimaging. These data have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms by which these neuropeptides contribute to human social behaviour. OXT and AVP are emerging as targets for novel treatment approaches — particularly in synergistic combination with psychotherapy — for mental disorders characterized by social dysfunction, such as autism, social anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia.
1,436 citations
"Oxytocin and Reduction of Social Th..." refers background in this paper
...It has therefore been suggested that borderline patients who are hypersensitive to negative, threatening social information may benefit from intranasal oxytocin administration (29)....
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