Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends
The oxytocin (OT) system is involved in various aspects of social cognition and prosocial behavior. Specifically, OT has been examined in the context of social memory, emotion recognition, cooperation, trust, empathy, and bonding, and─though evidence is somewhat mixed─intranasal OT appears to benefi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00487/full |
| _version_ | 1819081723397275648 |
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| author | Natalie C. Ebner Gabriela M. Maura Kai eMacdonald Lars eWestberg Håkan eFischer |
| author_facet | Natalie C. Ebner Gabriela M. Maura Kai eMacdonald Lars eWestberg Håkan eFischer |
| author_sort | Natalie C. Ebner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The oxytocin (OT) system is involved in various aspects of social cognition and prosocial behavior. Specifically, OT has been examined in the context of social memory, emotion recognition, cooperation, trust, empathy, and bonding, and─though evidence is somewhat mixed─intranasal OT appears to benefit aspects of socioemotional functioning. However, most of the extant data on aging and OT is from animal research and human OT research has focused largely on young adults. As such, though we know that various socioemotional capacities change with age, we know little about whether age-related changes in the OT system may underlie age-related differences in socioemotional functioning. In this review, we take a genetic-neuro-behavioral approach and evaluate current evidence on age-related changes in the OT system as well as the putative effects of these alterations on age-related socioemotional functioning. Looking forward, we identify informational gaps and propose an Age-Related Genetic, Neurobiological, Sociobehavioral Model of Oxytocin (AGeNeS-OT model) which may structure and inform investigations into aging-related genetic, neural, and sociocognitive processes related to OT. As an exemplar of the use of the model, we report exploratory data suggesting differences in socioemotional processing associated with genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in samples of young and older adults. Information gained from this arena has translational potential in depression, social stress, and anxiety─all of which have high relevance in aging─and may contribute to reducing social isolation and improving well-being of individuals across the lifespan. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:05:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1bff82caecb349da993ffda24281014e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:05:19Z |
| publishDate | 2013-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-1bff82caecb349da993ffda24281014e2022-12-21T18:51:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612013-08-01710.3389/fnhum.2013.0048756990Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future TrendsNatalie C. Ebner0Gabriela M. Maura1Kai eMacdonald2Lars eWestberg3Håkan eFischer4University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaUniversity of CaliforniaUniversity of GothenburgStockholm UniversityThe oxytocin (OT) system is involved in various aspects of social cognition and prosocial behavior. Specifically, OT has been examined in the context of social memory, emotion recognition, cooperation, trust, empathy, and bonding, and─though evidence is somewhat mixed─intranasal OT appears to benefit aspects of socioemotional functioning. However, most of the extant data on aging and OT is from animal research and human OT research has focused largely on young adults. As such, though we know that various socioemotional capacities change with age, we know little about whether age-related changes in the OT system may underlie age-related differences in socioemotional functioning. In this review, we take a genetic-neuro-behavioral approach and evaluate current evidence on age-related changes in the OT system as well as the putative effects of these alterations on age-related socioemotional functioning. Looking forward, we identify informational gaps and propose an Age-Related Genetic, Neurobiological, Sociobehavioral Model of Oxytocin (AGeNeS-OT model) which may structure and inform investigations into aging-related genetic, neural, and sociocognitive processes related to OT. As an exemplar of the use of the model, we report exploratory data suggesting differences in socioemotional processing associated with genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in samples of young and older adults. Information gained from this arena has translational potential in depression, social stress, and anxiety─all of which have high relevance in aging─and may contribute to reducing social isolation and improving well-being of individuals across the lifespan.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00487/fullAgingAmygdalaOxytocinanterior cingulatesocioemotional functioning |
| spellingShingle | Natalie C. Ebner Gabriela M. Maura Kai eMacdonald Lars eWestberg Håkan eFischer Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Aging Amygdala Oxytocin anterior cingulate socioemotional functioning |
| title | Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends |
| title_full | Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends |
| title_fullStr | Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends |
| title_short | Oxytocin and Socioemotional Aging─Current Knowledge and Future Trends |
| title_sort | oxytocin and socioemotional aging─current knowledge and future trends |
| topic | Aging Amygdala Oxytocin anterior cingulate socioemotional functioning |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00487/full |
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