Supplementary material for: Neural effects of oxytocin and mimicry in frontotemporal dementia: A randomized cross-over study

OBJECTIVE: Reduced empathy is one of the hallmark and untreatable symptoms
of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The objective of this study was to
determine whether intranasal oxytocin, alone or in combination with
instructed mimicry of facial expressions, would augment neural activity in
patients with FTD in brain regions associated with empathy, emotion
processing and the simulation network, as indexed by blood-oxygen-level
dependent (BOLD) signal during functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI). METHODS: In a placebo-controlled, randomized cross-over design, 28
patients with FTD received 72 IU of intranasal oxytocin or placebo and
then completed a fMRI facial expression mimicry task. RESULTS: Oxytocin
alone, and in combination with instructed mimicry, increased activity in
regions of the simulation network and in limbic regions associated with
emotional expression processing. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate
latent capacity to augment neural activity in affected limbic and other
frontal and temporal regions during social cognition in patients with FTD,
and support the promise and need for further investigation of these
interventions as therapeutics in FTD. CLASSIFICATION OF
EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that a single
dose of 72 IU intranasal oxytocin augments BOLD signal in patients with
FTD during viewing of emotional facial expressions.