Oxytocin and the salience of social cues

Abstract

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is rapidly moving from a molecule with interesting effects in model systems to an important mediator of a range of human social behaviors. In this issue of PNAS, Gamer et al. (1) report on a study in which they show that subjects given OT, relative to subjects given placebo, are more likely to make eye movements toward the eye region when viewing images of human faces, which replicates and extends previous work (2, 3). Gamer et al. (1) also use functional brain imaging to show that the amygdala is an important brain area mediating this effect. These findings have broad implications for understanding the role of OT in normal social behavior as well as the possible therapeutic impact of OT in brain disorders characterized by social dysfunction.

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