Vasopressin modulates social recognition-related activity in the left temporoparietal junction in humans

• DOI: 10.1038/tp.2011.2
• Publication Date: 2011-04-04T12:54:50Z
• Authors: C F Zink; L Kempf; S Hakimi; C A Rainey; J L Stein; A Meyer-Lindenberg
• Keywords: Temporoparietal junction; Prosocial Behavior; Social Isolation

The neuropeptide vasopressin is a key molecular mediator of social behavior in animals and humans, implicated anxiety autism. Social recognition, the ability to assess familiarity others, essential for appropriate interactions enhanced by vasopressin; however, neural mechanisms mediating this effect humans are unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) an implicit recognition matching task, we employed double-blinded procedure which 20 healthy male volunteers self-administered 40 UI or placebo intranasally, 45 min before performing task scanner. In random-effects fMRI analysis, show that induces regionally specific alteration node theory mind network, left temporoparietal junction, identifying neurobiological mechanism prosocial effects suggests novel treatment strategies.