Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31152588›Full record

ArticleThe international journal of neuropsychopharmacology2019

Oxytocin Facilitates Self-Serving Rather Than Altruistic Tendencies in Competitive Social Interactions Via Orbitofrontal Cortex.

Xiaolei Xu, Congcong Liu, Xinqi Zhou, Yuanshu Chen, Zhao Gao, Feng Zhou, Juan Kou, Benjamin Becker, Keith M Kendrick

Open access · goldAbstract readClinical Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. tDCS effect on prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Neural signatures of prosocial behaviors.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2020
    Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. How does oxytocin modulate human behavior?Molecular psychiatry · 2025
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Oxytocin and the Neurobiology of Prosocial Behavior.The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry · 2021
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xiaolei XuThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Congcong LiuThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Xinqi ZhouThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Yuanshu ChenThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Zhao GaoThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Feng ZhouThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Juan KouThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Benjamin BeckerThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Keith M KendrickThe Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhile the neuropeptide oxytocin can facilitate empathy and altruistic behavior, it may also promote self-serving tendencies in some contexts, and it remains unclear if it would increase altruistic or self-interest behaviors when they compete within a social situation.

methodsThe current between-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled fMRI study investigated the effect of intranasal oxytocin on empathy for social exclusion using a modified online ball-tossing game that incorporated monetary rewards and the potential to display both altruistic and self-interest behaviors.

resultsResults showed that when subjects in both oxytocin and placebo groups were observing a player being excluded (victim) by other players in the game, there was activation in the mentalizing network. When subjects then played both with the victim and the players who had excluded them, they threw more balls to the victim player, indicative of an altruistic response. However, subjects in the oxytocin group threw more balls to the excluder players indicative of greater self-interest, since the latter would be perceived as more likely to reciprocate to maximize financial gain. This behavioral effect of oxytocin was associated with greater medial orbitofrontal cortex activation when playing with the excluders and negatively correlated with trait-altruism scores.

conclusionsOverall, our findings suggest that in the context of competing motivations for exhibiting altruistic or self-interest behavior, oxytocin enhanced self-interest and this was associated with greater activation in frontal reward areas.

Indexed as

AltruismInterpersonal RelationsAdministration, IntranasalAdolescentAdultBrain MappingCompetitive BehaviorCrime VictimsDouble-Blind MethodEmpathyHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleOxytocinPrefrontal CortexRandom AllocationOxytocinaltruismempathyorbitofrontal cortexoxytocinself-interest

Identifiers

PMID31152588
PMCPMC6672625
OpenAlexW2947385894

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.