Oxytocin enhances gaze-following responses to videos of natural social behavior in adult male rhesus monkeys.

ABSTRACT: Gaze following is a basic building block of social behavior that has been observed in multiple species, including primates. The absence of gaze following is associated with abnormal development of social cognition, such as in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Some social deficits in ASD, including the failure to look at eyes and the inability to recognize facial expressions, are ameliorated by intranasal administration of oxytocin (IN-OT). Here we tested the hypothesis that IN-OT might enhance social processes that require active engagement with a social partner, such as gaze following. Alternatively, IN-OT may only enhance the perceptual salience of the eyes, and may not modify behavioral responses to social signals. To test this hypothesis, we presented four monkeys with videos of conspec

SUBMITTER: Putnam PT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5226068 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature