Oxytocin gene networks in the human brain: A gene expression and large-scale fMRI meta-analysis study

Social behavior plays an essential role in daily life. The neuropeptide oxytocin has generated considerable interest for its role in social behavior and potential to treat psychiatric disorders characterised by social dysfunction. This study advances our understanding of the neurobiological substrates of social behavior by interrogating human whole-brain maps of oxytocin pathway gene expression, demonstrating these genes are enriched in central, temporal, and olfactory brain regions. We also show via large-scale fMRI meta-analysis that these gene expression patterns correspond with brain regions involved in emotion and motivation processing. These results provide a proof-of-principle demonstration of corresponding mental states with gene expression patterns of a neuropeptide pathway involved in complex human behaviors, and identify neural network targets for future oxytocin trials.

社交行为在日常生活中扮演着至关重要的角色。神经肽催产素因其对社交行为的影响及治疗具有社交功能障碍特征的精神性疾病的潜力而备受关注。本研究通过调查人类全脑中催产素通路基因表达的图谱，进一步深化了我们对于社交行为神经生物学基础的认知，并证实这些基因在中央、颞叶和嗅叶脑区富集。此外，通过大规模的fMRI元分析，我们揭示了这些基因表达模式与参与情感和动机处理的大脑区域相对应。这些发现为神经肽通路基因表达模式与复杂人类行为相关联的心理状态提供了原理验证，并识别了神经网络靶点，为未来的催产素试验提供了新的方向。