Oxytocin promotes prosocial behavior and related neural responses in infant macaques at-risk for compromised social development.

ABSTRACT: Although positive effects of oxytocin (OT) on social functioning are well-demonstrated, little is known about the mechanisms through which OT may drive early social development, or its therapeutic efficacy in infancy. To address these critical issues, we investigated the effects of exogenous OT on neural (EEG) and behavioral responses during observation of live facial gestures in infant macaques with limited social exposure (i.e. nursery-reared). Three key findings were revealed. First, OT increased alpha suppression over posterior scalp regions during observation of facial gestures but not non-biological movement, suggesting that OT targets self-other matching and attentional cortical networks involved in social perception from very early infancy. Second, OT increased infant production of

SUBMITTER: Festante F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8042434 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature