Epigenetic modification of OXT and human sociability

Across many mammalian species there exist genetic and biological systems that facilitate the tendency to be social. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide involved in social-approach behaviors in humans and others mammals. Although there exists a large, mounting body of evidence showing that oxytocin signaling...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2016-07, Vol.113 (27), p.E3816-E3823
Main Authors: Haas, Brian W., Filkowski, Megan M., Cochran, R. Nick, Denison, Lydia, Ishak, Alexandra, Nishitani, Shota, Smith, Alicia K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emotional Intelligence
Epigenesis, Genetic
Female
Functional Neuroimaging
Humans
Male
Object Attachment
Oxytocin - genetics
PNAS Plus
Social Sciences
Social Skills
Young Adult
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Summary:Across many mammalian species there exist genetic and biological systems that facilitate the tendency to be social. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide involved in social-approach behaviors in humans and others mammals. Although there exists a large, mounting body of evidence showing that oxytocin signaling genes are associated with human sociability, very little is currently known regarding the way the structural gene for oxytocin (OXT) confers individual differences in human sociability. In this study, we undertook a comprehensive approach to investigate the association between epigenetic modification of OXT via DNA methylation, and overt measures of social processing, including self-report, behavior, and brain function and structure. Genetic data were collected via saliva samples and analyzed to target and quantify DNA methylation across the promoter region of OXT. We observed a consistent pattern of results across sociability measures. People that exhibit lower OXT DNA methylation (presumably linked to higher OXT expression) display more secure attachment styles, improved ability to recognize emotional facial expressions, greater superior temporal sulcus activity during two social-cognitive functional MRI tasks, and larger fusiform gyrus gray matter volume than people that exhibit higher OXT DNA methylation. These findings provide empirical evidence that epigenetic modification of OXT is linked to several overt measures of sociability in humans and serve to advance progress in translational social neuroscience research toward a better understanding of the evolutionary and genetic basis of normal and abnormal human sociability.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1602809113