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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Originally known for its role in labor and lactation, oxytocin (OT) has recently been shown to facilitate social behaviour by improving socio-emotional abilities. However, whether OT is equally beneficial to all people, or whether is it particularly beneficial to less emotionally/socially competent (i.e., high alexithymia) individuals it is not yet known. We investigated the effects of OT on individuals of varying socio-emotional ability by randomly assigning sixty male students to receive either oxytocin (OT) or a placebo (PL), and had them perform the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET). Results showed that whereas the performance of lower alexithymia individuals was equally good in both OT and PL conditions, the performance of higher alexithymia people was better under OT than PL. These results suggest that the effects of OT are not only context-dependent-as recently shown-but also personality dependent. They also provide new insights into the remediation of socio-emotional deficits.
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PMID:Personality-dependent effects of oxytocin: greater social benefits for high alexithymia scorers. 2164 64

In "Autism, oxytocin and interoception" (Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 47, 410-430) Quattrocki and Friston present their theory of the role of oxytocin in interoception from multiple perspectives. The arguments contained therein are compelling, and highlight the fact that interoception, and the role of oxytocin in interoception, should receive more research attention. However, in addition to outlining the role of oxytocin in interoception the authors also suggest that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a result of a failure of this system. It is this latter claim that we disagree with, instead suggesting that alexithymia, rather than autism, is most accurately characterised as a general failure of interoception. We review positive evidence that alexithymia produces several of the deficits identified as indicating a failure of interoception, and negative evidence that ASD (in the absence of comorbid alexithymia) is associated with these deficits. We highlight implications for the model, for oxytocin research, and for the clinical management of psychiatric conditions more generally.
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PMID:Commentary on "Autism, oxytocin and interoception": Alexithymia, not Autism Spectrum Disorders, is the consequence of interoceptive failure. 2527 83

This article reviews the most salient neurobiological information available about borderline personality disorder (BPD) and presents a theoretic model for what lies at the heart of BPD that is grounded in those findings. It reviews the heritability, genetics, and the biological models of BPD, including the neurobiology of affective instability, impaired interoception, oxytocin and opiate models of poor attachment or interpersonal dysfunction, and structural brain imaging over the course of development in BPD; and posits that the core characteristic of BPD may be an impairment in emotional interoception or alexithymia.
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PMID:The Neurobiology of Borderline Personality Disorder. 3044 29