The Influence of Reward on Facial Mimicry: No Evidence for a Significant Effect of Oxytocin.

ABSTRACT: Recent findings suggest a role of oxytocin on the tendency to spontaneously mimic the emotional facial expressions of others. Oxytocin-related increases of facial mimicry, however, seem to be dependent on contextual factors. Given previous literature showing that people preferentially mimic emotional expressions of individuals associated with high (vs. low) rewards, we examined whether the reward value of the mimicked agent is one factor influencing the oxytocin effects on facial mimicry. To test this hypothesis, 60 male adults received 24 IU of either intranasal oxytocin or placebo in a double-blind, between-subject experiment. Next, the value of male neutral faces was manipulated using an associative learning task with monetary rewards. After the reward associations were learned, partici

SUBMITTER: Trilla I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7304412 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature