Sex-Specific Influences of Vasopressin on Human Social Communication
Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and related peptides affect social pehaviors in numerous species, but AVP influences on human social functions have not yet been established. Here, we describe how intranasal AVP administration differentially affects social communication in men and women, and we propose a...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 103; no. 20; pp. 7889 - 7894 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences
16.05.2006
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and related peptides affect social pehaviors in numerous species, but AVP influences on human social functions have not yet been established. Here, we describe how intranasal AVP administration differentially affects social communication in men and women, and we propose a mechanism through which it may exert those influences. In men, AVP stimulates agonistic facial motor patterns in response to the faces of unfamiliar men and decreases perceptions of the friendliness of those faces. In contrast, in women, AVP stimulates affiliative facial motor patterns in response to the faces of unfamiliar women and increases perceptions of the friendliness of those faces. AVP also affected autonomic responsiveness to threatening faces and increased anxiety, which may underlie both communication patterns by promoting different social strategies in stressful contexts in men and women. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Author contributions: R.R.T. and S.P.O. designed research; K.G., J.C.W., and J.B. performed research; J.B. screened medical records of potential subjects and examined them before allowing subjects to participate; R.R.T. and S.P.O. analyzed data; and R.R.T. wrote the paper. Edited by Marcus E. Raichle, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, and approved April 6, 2006 |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.0600406103 |