Publication Cover
Stress
The International Journal on the Biology of Stress
Volume 24, 2021 - Issue 4
3,880
Views
1
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Research Reports

Oxytocin, cortisol, and cognitive control during acute and naturalistic stress

ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon, & ORCID Icon show all
Pages 370-383 | Received 06 May 2020, Accepted 11 Jan 2021, Published online: 25 Feb 2021

References

  • Adam, E. (2006). Transactions among adolescent trait and state emotion and diurnal and momentary cortisol activity in naturalistic settings. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(5), 664–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.01.010
  • American Psychological Association. (2017). Stress in America: Coping with change. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2016/coping-with-change.pdf
  • American Psychological Association. (2019). Stress in America: Stress and current events. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2019/stress-america-2019.pdf
  • Anderson, C. L., Monroy, M., & Keltner, D. (2018). Emotion in the wilds of nature: The coherence and contagion of fear during threatening group-based outdoors experiences. Emotion, 18(3), 355–368. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000378
  • Apter-Levi, Y., Pratt, M., Vakart, A., Feldman, M., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2016). Maternal depression across the first years of life compromises child psychosocial adjustment: Relations to child HPA-axis functioning. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 64, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.11.006
  • Atzin, S., Gao, W., Fradkin, I., & Barrett, L. F. (2018). Growing a social brain. Nature Human Behaviour, 2, 624–636. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0384-6
  • Atzil, S., Hendler, T., & Feldman, R. (2014). The brain basis of social synchrony. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(8), 1193–1202. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst105
  • Austad, S. N. (2006). Why women live longer than men: Sex differences in longevity. Gender Medicine, 3(2), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1550-8579(06)80198-1
  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Riem, M. M. E., Tops, M., & Alink, L. R. A. (2012). Oxytocin decreases handgrip force in reaction to infant crying in females without harsh parenting experiences. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(8), 951–957. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsr067
  • Barrett, L. F. (2017). How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  • Bartz, J. A., Zaki, J., Bolger, N., & Ochsner, K. N. (2011). Social effects of oxytocin in humans: Context and person matter. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(7), 301–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.05.002
  • Baumeister, D., Akhtar, R., Ciufolini, S., Pariante, C. M., & Mondelli, V. (2016). Childhood trauma and adulthood inflammation: A meta-analysis of peripheral C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-α. Molecular Psychiatry, 21(5), 642–649. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2015.67
  • Beery, A. K. (2015). Antisocial oxytocin: Complex effects on social behavior. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 6, 174–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.11.006
  • Carpenter, L. L., Gawuga, C. E., Tyrka, A. R., Lee, J. K., Anderson, G. M., & Price, L. H. (2010). Association between plasma IL-6 response to acute stress and early-life adversity in healthy adults. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(13), 2617–2623. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2010.159
  • Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
  • Crespi, B. J. (2016). Oxytocin, testosterone, and human social cognition. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 91(2), 390–408. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12175
  • Dabrowska, J., Hazra, R., Ahern, T. H., Guo, J.-D., McDonald, A. J., Mascagni, F., Muller, J. F., Young, L. J., & Rainnie, D. G. (2011). Neuroanatomical evidence for reciprocal regulation of the corticotrophin-releasing factor and oxytocin systems in the hypothalamus and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of the rat: Implications for balancing stress and affect. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36(9), 1312–1326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.03.003
  • Diamond, A. (2011). Biological and social influences on cognitive control processes dependent on prefrontal cortex. In O. Braddick, J. Atkinson, & G. M. Innocenti (Eds.), Progress in brain research (Vol. 189, pp. 319–339). Elsevier.
  • Dickerson, S. S., & Kemeny, M. E. (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin, 130(3), 355–391. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355
  • Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larsen, R., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
  • Feldman, R. (2012a). Parent-infant synchrony: A biobehavioral model of mutual influences in the formation of affiliative bonds. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 77(2), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5834.2011.00660.x
  • Feldman, R. (2012b). Oxytocin and social affiliation in humans. Hormones and Behavior, 61(3), 380–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.01.008
  • Feldman, R. (2017). The neurobiology of human attachments. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21(2), 80–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.11.007
  • Feldman, R. (2020). What is resilience: An affiliative neuroscience approach. World Psychiatry, 19(2), 132–150. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20729
  • Feldman, R., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. (2017). Oxytocin: A parenting hormone. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15, 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.011
  • Feldman, R., Gordon, I., Influs, M., Gutbir, T., & Ebstein, R. P (2013). Parental oxytocin and early caregiving jointly shape children's oxytocin response and social reciprocity. Neuropsychopharmacology, 38(7), 1154–1162. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2013.22
  • Feldman, R., Gordon, I., & Zagoory-Sharon, O. (2011). Maternal and paternal plasma, salivary, and urinary oxytocin and parent-infant synchrony: Considering stress and affiliation components of human bonding. Developmental Science, 14(4), 752–761. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.01021.x
  • Feldman, R., Weller, A., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Levine, A. (2007). Evidence for a neuroendocrinological foundation of human affiliation: Plasma oxytocin levels across pregnancy and the postpartum period predict mother-infant bonding. Psychological Science, 18(11), 965–970. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02010.x
  • Frisch, J., Häusser, J. A., & Mojzisch, A. (2015). The Trier Social Stress Test as a paradigm to study how people respond to threat in social interactions. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00014
  • Furman, D., Campisi, J., Verdin, E., Carrera-Bastos, P., Targ, S., Franceschi, C., Ferrucci, L., Gilroy, D. W., Fasano, A., Miller, G. W., Miller, A. H., Mantovani, A., Weyand, C. M., Barzilai, N., Goronzy, J. J., Rando, T. A., Effros, R. B., Lucia, A., Kleinstreuer, N., & Slavich, G. M. (2019). Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nature Medicine, 25(12), 1822–1832. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0675-0
  • Goodin, B., Ness, T. J., & Robbins, M. T. (2015). Oxytocin – a multifunctional analgesic for chronic deep tissue pain. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 21(7), 906–913. https://doi.org/10.2174/1381612820666141027111843
  • Graham, C. A., & McGrew, W. C. (1980). Menstrual synchrony in female undergraduates living on a coeducational campus. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 5(3), 245–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4530(80)90028-1
  • Grewen, K. M., Davenport, R. E., & Light, K. C. (2010). An investigation of plasma and salivary oxytocin responses in breast- and formula-feeding mothers of infants. Psychophysiology, 47(4), 625–632. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00968.x
  • Grewen, K., Girdler, S., Amico, J., & Light, K. (2005). Effects of partner support on resting oxytocin, cortisol, norepinephrine, and blood pressure before and after warm partner contact. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67(4), 531–538. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000170341.88395.47
  • Grewen, K. M., & Light, K. C. (2011). Plasma oxytocin is related to lower cardiovascular and sympathetic reactivity to stress. Biological Psychology, 87(3), 340–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.04.003
  • Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781
  • Gutkowska, J., Jankowski, M., & Antunes-Rodrigues, J. (2014). The role of oxytocin in cardiovascular regulation. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research = Revista Brasileira de Pesquisas Medicas e Biologicas, 47(3), 206–214. https://doi.org/10.1590/1414-431X20133309
  • Harkness, K. L., Alavi, N., Monroe, S. M., Slavich, G. M., Gotlib, I. H., & Bagby, R. M. (2010). Gender differences in life events prior to onset of major depressive disorder: The moderating effect of age. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(4), 791–803. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020629
  • Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003). Social support and oxytocin interact to suppress cortisol and subjective response to psychosocial stress. Biological Psychiatry, 54(12), 1389–1398. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(03)00465-7
  • Holt-Lunstad, J., Birmingham, W., & Light, K. (2008). Influence of a “warm touch” support enhancement intervention among married couples on ambulatory blood pressure, oxytocin, alpha amylase, and cortisol. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(9), 976–985. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e318187aef7
  • Holt-Lunstad, J., Birmingham, W., & Light, K. (2015). Relationship quality and oxytocin: Influence of stable and modifiable aspects of relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32(4), 472–490. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407514536294
  • Holt-Lunstad, J., Ditzen, B., & Light, K. C. (2019). Oxytocin, social relationships, and health: An introduction to the special issue. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 136, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.12.008
  • Influs, M., Pratt, M., Masalha, S., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2019). A social neuroscience approach to conflict resolution: Dialogue intervention to Israeli and Palestinian youth impacts oxytocin and empathy. Social Neuroscience, 14(4), 378–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2018.1479983
  • Isgett, S., Kok, B., Baczkowski, B., Algoe, S., Grewen, K., & Fredrickson, B. (2017). Influences of oxytocin and respiratory sinus arrhythmia on emotions and social behavior in daily life. Emotion, 17(8), 1156–1165. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000301
  • Ishak, W. W., Kahloon, M., & Fakhry, H. (2011). Oxytocin role in enhancing well-being: A literature review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 130(1–2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2010.06.001
  • Jezova, D., Skultetyova, I., Tokarev, D. I., Bakos, P., & Vigas, M. (1995). Vasopressin and oxytocin in stress. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 771, 192–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1995.tb44681.x
  • Kleckner, I. R., Zhang, J., Touroutoglou, A., Chanes, L., Xia, C., Simmons, W. K., Quigley, K. S., Dickerson, B. C., & Barrett, L. F. (2017). Evidence for a large-scale brain system supporting allostasis and interoception in humans. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(5), 0069. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0069
  • Kragel, P. A., Bianciardi, M., Hartley, L., Matthewson, G., Choi, J.-K., Quigley, K. S., Wald, L. L., Wager, T. D., Barrett, L. F., & Satpute, A. B. (2019). Functional involvement of human periaqueductal gray and other midbrain nuclei in cognitive control. The Journal of Neuroscience, 39(31), 6180–6189. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2043-18.2019
  • Kuchenbecker, S. Y. (1976). A developmental investigation of children's behavioral, cognitive, and affective responses to empathically stimulating situations. (Doctoral Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1976). Dissertation Abstracts International, 37, 10, 1977, (University Microfilms No. 77-8523).
  • Levy, J., Goldstein, A., Zagoory-Sharon, O., Weisman, O., Schneiderman, I., Eidelman-Rothman, M., & Feldman, R. (2016). Oxytocin selectively modulates brain response to stimuli probing social synchrony. NeuroImage, 124(A), 923–930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.066
  • Lindholm, H., Ahlberg, J., Sinisalo, J., Hublin, C., Hirvonen, A., Partinen, M., Sarna, S., & Savolainen, A. (2012). Morning cortisol levels and perceived stress in irregular shift workers compared with regular daytime workers. Sleep Disorders, 2012, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/789274
  • Lischke, A., Berger, C., Prehn, K., Heinrichs, M., Herpertz, S., & Domes, G. (2012). Intranasal oxytocin enhances emotion recognition from dynamic facial expressions and leaves eye-gaze unaffected. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37(4), 475–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.07.015
  • McCullough, M. E., Churchland, P. S., & Mendez, A. J. (2013). Problems with measuring peripheral oxytocin: Can the data on oxytocin and human behavior be trusted? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(8), 1485–1492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.018
  • Neumann, I. D., & Landgraf, R. (2012). The brain oxytocin and vasopressin systems in anxiety and depression: Link to sociality. Trends in Neurosciences, 35(11), 649–659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2012.08.004
  • Nicolson, N. A. (1992). Stress, coping and cortisol dynamics in daily life. In M. deVries (Ed.), The experience of psychopathology: Investigating mental disorders in their natural settings (pp. 219–232). Cambridge University Press.
  • Okabe, S., Kitano, K., Nagasawa, M., Mogi, K., & Kikusui, T. (2013). Testosterone inhibits facilitating effects of parenting experience on parental behavior and the oxytocin neural system in mice. Physiology & Behavior, 118, 159–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.05.017
  • Pressman, S. D., Jenkins, B. N., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2019). Positive affect and health: What do we know and where next should we go? Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 627–650. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102955
  • Quinn, M. E., Stanton, C. H., Slavich, G. M., & Joormann, J. (2020). Executive control, cytokine reactivity to social stress, and depressive symptoms: Testing the Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression. Stress, 23(1), 60–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2019.1641079
  • Quirin, M., Kuhl, J., & Dusing, R. (2011). Oxytocin buffers cortisol responses to stress in individuals with impaired emotion regulation abilities. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36(6), 898–904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.12.005
  • Shields, G. S., Moons, W. G., & Slavich, G. M. (2017a). Inflammation, self-regulation, and health: An immunologic model of self-regulatory failure. Perspectives on Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 12(4), 588–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616689091
  • Shields, G. S., Moons, W. G., & Slavich, G. M. (2017b). Better executive function under stress mitigates the effects of recent life stress exposure on health in young adults. Stress, 20(1), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2017.1286322
  • Shields, G. S., Slavich, G. M., Perlman, G., Klein, D. N., & Kotov, R. (2019). The short-term reliability and long-term stability of salivary immune markers. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 81, 650–654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2019.06.007
  • Shields, G. S., Young Kuchenbecker, S., Pressman, S. D., Sumida, K. D., & Slavich, G. M. (2016). Better cognitive control of emotional information is associated with reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine reactivity to emotional stress. Stress, 19(1), 63–68. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2015.1121983
  • Shiota, M., Campos, B., Oveis, C., Hertenstein, M., Simon-Thomas, E., & Keltner, D. (2017). Beyond happiness: Building a science of discrete positive emotions. The American Psychologist, 72(7), 617–643. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0040456
  • Slavich, G. M. (2016). Life stress and health: A review of conceptual issues and recent findings. Teaching of Psychology, 43(4), 346–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628316662768
  • Slavich, G. M. (2020a). Psychoneuroimmunology of stress and mental health. In K. L. Harkness & E. P. Hayden (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of stress and mental health (pp. 519–546). Oxford University Press.
  • Slavich, G. M. (2020b). Social safety theory: A biologically based evolutionary perspective on life stress, health, and behavior. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 16, 265–295. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045159
  • Slavich, G. M., & Auerbach, R. P. (2018). Stress and its sequelae: Depression, suicide, inflammation, and physical illness. In J. N. Butcher & J. M. Hooley (Eds.), APA handbook of psychopathology: Vol. 1. Psychopathology: Understanding, assessing, and treating adult mental disorders (pp. 375–402). American Psychological Association.
  • Slavich, G. M., & Irwin, M. R. (2014). From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 774–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035302
  • Slavich, G. M., & Sacher, J. (2019). Stress, sex hormones, inflammation, and major depressive disorder: Extending Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression to account for sex differences in mood disorders. Psychopharmacology, 236(10), 3063–3079. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05326-9
  • Slavish, D. C., Graham-Engeland, J. E., Smyth, J. J., & Engeland, C. G. (2015). Salivary markers of inflammation in response to acute stress. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 44, 253–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2014.08.008
  • Steinman, M. Q., Duque-Wilckens, N., & Trainor, B. C. (2019). Complementary neural circuits for divergent effects of oxytocin: Social approach versus social anxiety. Biological Psychiatry, 85(10), 792–801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.10.008
  • Striepens, N., Schröter, F., Stoffel‐Wagner, B., Maier, W., Hurlemann, R., & Scheele, D. (2016). Oxytocin enhances cognitive control of food craving in women. Human Brain Mapping, 3, 4276–4285. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20963-4
  • Szeto, A., Nation, D. A., Mendez, A., Dominguez-Bendala, J., Brooks, L. G., Schneiderman, N., & McCabe, P. M. (2008). Oxytocin attenuates NADPH-dependent superoxide activity and IL-6 secretion in macrophages and vascular cells. American Journal of Physiology. Endocrinology and Metabolism, 295(6), E1495. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.90718.2008
  • Taylor, S. E. (2006). Tend and befriend. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(6), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00451.x
  • Taylor, S. E. (2011). Social support: A review. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), Oxford handbook of health psychology, (pp. 189–214). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Taylor, S. E., Klein, L. C., Lewis, B. L., Gruenewald, T. I., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review, 107(3), 411–429. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.107.3.411
  • Taylor, S. E., Saphire-Bernstein, S., & Seeman, T. E. (2010). Are plasma oxytocin in women and plasma vasopressin in men biomarkers of distressed pair-bond relationships? Psychological Science, 21(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797609356507
  • Tost, H., Champagne, F. A., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2015). Environmental influence in the brain, human welfare and mental health. Nature Neuroscience, 18(10), 1421–4131. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4108
  • Totterdell, P., Kellett, S., Teuchmann, K., & Briner, R. B. (1998). Evidence of mood linkage in work groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1504–1515. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1504
  • van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Bhandari, R., van der Veen, R., Grewen, K. M., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012). Elevated salivary levels of oxytocin persist more than 7 hours after intranasal administration. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 6, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2012.00174
  • Verlander, L. A., Benedict, J. O., & Hanson, D. P. (1999). Stress and sleep patterns of college students. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 88(3), 893–898. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1999.88.3.893
  • Verschoor, E., & Markus, C. R. (2011). Affective and neuroendocrine stress reactivity to an academic examination: Influence of the 5-HTTLPR genotype and trait neuroticism. Biological Psychology, 87(3), 439–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.06.001
  • Watson, D., Clark, L., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063
  • Woolley, J. D., Chuang, B., Lam, O., Lai, W., O’Donovan, A., Rankin, K. P., Mathalon, D. H., & Vinogradov, S. (2014). Oxytocin administration enhances controlled social cognition in patients with schizophrenia. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 47, 116–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.04.024

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.