OXT_AVP_PLC_fmridata

Witnessing social distress of others evokes social pain empathy. Although hypothalamic neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are known to play roles in social function, their respective contributions to the process of social pain empathy have not been systematically understood. Here, we combined naturalistic fMRI with functional decoding, gene expression, and pharmacological modulation using intranasal administration of OXT (24 IU) or AVP (20IU) to explore their neurobiological mechanisms underlying social pain empathy in a cohort of 103 participants. Our findings indicated that both OXT and AVP significantly enhanced pain empathy compared to placebo, with overlapping and distinct modulations in neurofunctional circuits and gene expressions. Specially, both neuropeptides altered emotional processing in the regions such as insula, amygdala, and para-hippocampus. Additionally, OXT and AVP induced distinguishable effects on resting-state functional connectivity, their respective gene receptors, and their interactions with other genetic systems. Our work provides a comprehensive characterization of these two hypothalamic neuropeptides in social pain empathy and offers valuable insights for future translational research.

目睹他人的社会困境会引发社会痛苦共情（social pain empathy）。尽管已知下丘脑神经肽催产素（oxytocin, OXT）与精氨酸加压素（arginine vasopressin, AVP）均参与社会功能调控，但二者对社会痛苦共情过程的具体贡献尚未得到系统阐释。本研究结合自然态功能磁共振成像（naturalistic fMRI）、功能解码、基因表达分析与经鼻给药的药理学调控手段，为103名参与者分别经鼻给予24国际单位OXT或20国际单位AVP，旨在探究二者调控社会痛苦共情的神经生物学机制。研究结果显示，与安慰剂组相比，OXT与AVP均显著增强了个体的社会痛苦共情能力，且二者在神经功能环路与基因表达层面兼具重叠与差异化的调控效应。具体而言，两种神经肽均能调控岛叶、杏仁核及海马旁回等脑区的情绪加工过程。此外，OXT与AVP对静息态功能连接、各自的基因受体，以及与其他遗传系统的互作均产生了可区分的特异性影响。本研究全面刻画了这两种下丘脑神经肽在社会痛苦共情中的作用模式，为后续转化研究提供了极具价值的理论参考与研究思路。