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Abstract
The neuropeptides oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) are hormones that are known to mediate social behavior and cognition, but their influence may be sex-dependent. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the sex-related influence of OT and VP on social cognition, focusing on partner preference and sexual orientation, trust and relevant behaviors, memory modulation, and emotion regulation. Most studies have suggested that OT facilitates familiar-partner preference in both sexes, with females being more significant, increased trust in others, especially for male, enhanced memory in either sex, and reduced anxious emotion in males. However, VP-regulated social cognition has been less studied. Other relevant studies have indicated that VP facilitated familiar-partner preference, improved memory, induced empathy formation, increased positive-emotion recognition, and induced anxiety without any sex difference. However, there was a male preponderance among studies, and results were often too complex to draw firm conclusions. Clarifying the interplay between OT/VP and sex hormones in the regulation of social cognition is necessary for further applications.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Professor Chee H Ng from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne for English-language editing. This work was supported by grants from the Public Welfare Project of the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (2015C33133), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81671357), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorders (2015BAI13B02), Key Research Project of Zhejiang Province (2015C03040), and National Key Research and Development Program (2016YFC1307100).
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.