The oxytocinergic system modulates sadistic context-dependent empathy in humans

Siyang Luo; Yiyi Zhu; Ying Xu; Qianting Kong

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12671-2

The oxytocinergic system modulates sadistic context-dependent empathy in humans

Siyang Luo^*
, Yiyi Zhu
, Ying Xu
, Qianting Kong

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

10 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

The oxytocinergic system is crucial for sociality and well-being and is associated with empathy. It is suggested that the oxytocinergic system exerts context- and person-dependent effects. We examined how sexual sadistic contexts influenced the effects of the oxytocinergic system on empathic-related behaviors and brain activity in healthy adults. Combining genetic neuroimaging, pharmacological techniques and a psychological paradigm of empathy, we recorded EEG neural responses in female OXTR rs53756 G/G and A/A carriers and measured subjective empathic ratings after intranasal administration of oxytocin/placebo in healthy male adults during the perception of painful facial expressions in sadistic/general social contexts. The results revealed that sadistic contexts modulate oxytocinergic effects on empathy at both behavioral and neural levels. The oxytocinergic system preferentially modulated empathic responses to sadistic contexts. These effects are moderated by individual's trait empathy. Our combined genetic-pharmacological-imaging results provide a neurochemical mechanism for sadistic context-dependent effects of the oxytocinergic system on empathy. © 2017 The Author(s).

Original language	English
Article number	12463
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12671-2
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

Funding

This work was supported by the grants from Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities grant (Project 16wkpy28) and the Science Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (Project 17YJCZH121). We thank Xinran Zeng for assisting with the recruitment of participants. We thank Xiao Zhang for proofreading of this paper.

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This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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abstract = "The oxytocinergic system is crucial for sociality and well-being and is associated with empathy. It is suggested that the oxytocinergic system exerts context- and person-dependent effects. We examined how sexual sadistic contexts influenced the effects of the oxytocinergic system on empathic-related behaviors and brain activity in healthy adults. Combining genetic neuroimaging, pharmacological techniques and a psychological paradigm of empathy, we recorded EEG neural responses in female OXTR rs53756 G/G and A/A carriers and measured subjective empathic ratings after intranasal administration of oxytocin/placebo in healthy male adults during the perception of painful facial expressions in sadistic/general social contexts. The results revealed that sadistic contexts modulate oxytocinergic effects on empathy at both behavioral and neural levels. The oxytocinergic system preferentially modulated empathic responses to sadistic contexts. These effects are moderated by individual's trait empathy. Our combined genetic-pharmacological-imaging results provide a neurochemical mechanism for sadistic context-dependent effects of the oxytocinergic system on empathy. {\textcopyright} 2017 The Author(s).",

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AU - Zhu, Yiyi

AU - Xu, Ying

AU - Kong, Qianting

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The oxytocinergic system modulates sadistic context-dependent empathy in humans

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