Oxytocin facilitates socially directed attention.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Psychopharmacology

Background:

• Socially directed gaze following is crucial for social interaction and learning.
• Impaired joint social attention is characteristic of disorders like autism.
• Oxytocin (OXT) may influence attention to social cues, but its effect on gaze following is unstudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin (OXT) on socially directed gaze following in adult males.
• To explore associations between OXT-modulated gaze following and autistic or empathic traits.

Main Methods:

• A within-subject, randomized, placebo-controlled trial using eye-tracking.
• 40 adult male subjects received intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo.
• Participants viewed videos of actors directing gaze toward objects via eye movements, head movements, and pointing.

Main Results:

• Oxytocin significantly increased the proportion of time subjects spent viewing the target object indicated by the actor's gaze.
• This facilitation of gaze following occurred across all tested conditions (eyes only, eyes and head, eyes, head, and pointing).
• No significant associations were found between gaze following, autistic traits, or empathic traits under placebo or OXT.

Conclusions:

• Intranasal oxytocin enhances socially directed gaze following, promoting mutual attention.
• This finding suggests potential therapeutic applications for OXT in conditions with impaired social communication.
• The study did not find a link between OXT's effect on gaze following and individual differences in autistic or empathic traits.