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journal article Aug 28, 2018

Oxytocin enhances the pain‐relieving effects of social support in romantic couples

Ann‐Kathrin Kreuder Lea Wassermann Michael Wollseifer Beate Ditzen Monika Eckstein Birgit Stoffel‐Wagner Juergen Hennig René Hurlemann ORCID Dirk Scheele ORCID
Human Brain Mapping Vol. 40 No. 1 pp. 242-251 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1002/hbm.24368
Abstract
AbstractSocial support plays a vital role in physical and mental well‐being. The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated in modulating pair‐bonding and affiliative behaviors, but whether OXT contributes to the analgesic effects of a romantic partner's touch remains elusive. In the present randomized placebo‐controlled, between‐group, functional magnetic resonance imaging study involving 194 healthy volunteers (97 heterosexual couples), we tested the effects of intranasal OXT (24 IU) on handholding as a common mode of expressing emotional support in romantic couples. We scanned the subjects while brief electric shocks were administered. The subjects assumed that they received social support from either their romantic partner or an unfamiliar person. Unbeknown to the subject, in the partner and stranger support conditions, the same male experimenter always held the subject's left hand. Partner support was most effective in reducing the unpleasantness of electric shocks, and OXT further attenuated the unpleasantness across conditions. On the neural level, OXT significantly augmented the beneficial effects of partner support, as evidenced by a stronger decrease of neural responses to shocks in the anterior insula (AI), a stronger activity increase in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and a strengthened functional coupling between the AI and MFG. Our results support the notion that OXT specifically modulates the beneficial effects of social support in romantic couples by concomitantly reducing pain‐associated activity and increasing activity linked to cognitive control and pain inhibition. We hypothesize that impaired OXT signaling may contribute to the experience of a lack of partner support.
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Showing 50 of 65 references

Cited By
53
Intranasal oxytocin and the stress-buffering effects of social support during experimentally induced pain: The role of attachment security

M.M.E. Riem, L.E. Kunst · 2021

Journal of Affective Disorders
Metrics
53
Citations
65
References
Details
Published
Aug 28, 2018
Vol/Issue
40(1)
Pages
242-251
License
View
Authors
A
Ann‐Kathrin Kreuder

Division of Medical Psychology University of Bonn Bonn Germany

L
Lea Wassermann

Division of Medical Psychology University of Bonn Bonn Germany

M
Michael Wollseifer

Division of Medical Psychology University of Bonn Bonn Germany

B
Beate Ditzen

Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Institute of Medical Psychology Heidelberg University Heidelberg Germany

M
Monika Eckstein

Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Institute of Medical Psychology Heidelberg University Heidelberg Germany

B
Birgit Stoffel‐Wagner

Department of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology University of Bonn Bonn Germany

J
Juergen Hennig

Division of Personality Psychology and Individual Differences University of Giessen Giessen Germany

R
René Hurlemann

Division of Medical Psychology University of Bonn Bonn Germany; Department of Psychiatry University of Bonn Bonn Germany

D
Dirk Scheele

Division of Medical Psychology University of Bonn Bonn Germany

Cite This Article
Ann‐Kathrin Kreuder, Lea Wassermann, Michael Wollseifer, et al. (2018). Oxytocin enhances the pain‐relieving effects of social support in romantic couples. Human Brain Mapping, 40(1), 242-251. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24368
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