Oxytocin reduces romantic rejection-induced pain in online speed-dating as revealed by decreased frontal-midline theta oscillations

Loneliness and susceptibility to social pain mediate the association between autistic traits and psychotic experiences in young non-clinical adults

Understanding of the mechanisms involved in the occurrence of psychotic experiences (PEs) in highly autistic individuals is crucial for identifying appropriate prevention and intervention strategies. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of susceptibility to social pain and loneliness in the relationship between autistic traits (ATs) and PEs in adults from the general population of 12 Arab countries. This cross-sectional study is part of a large-scale multi-country research project. A total of 7646 young adults (age range 18-35 years, mean age of 22.55 ± 4.00 years and 75.5% females) from twelve Arab countries (i.e., Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, and Tunisia) were included. Mediation analyses showed that, after adjusting over confounding variables, both loneliness (indirect effect: Beta = 0.18; Boot SE = 0.02; Boot CI 0.14; 0.21) and social pain (indirect effect: Beta = 0.03; Boot SE = 0.01; Boot CI 0.001; 0.05) partially mediated the association between ATs and PEs. Higher ATs were significantly associated with more loneliness and susceptibility to social pain, and directly associated with more severe PEs. Finally, higher loneliness and susceptibility to social pain were significantly associated with greater PEs scores. Findings indicated that individuals with higher ATs tend to experience greater loneliness and feel more pain from rejection, which can in turn be associated with higher levels of PEs. Interventions targeting susceptibility to social pain and loneliness as a means of mitigating PEs among highly autistic adults should be considered.

The Molecular Basis of Love

Love as a complex interplay of emotions and behaviors is underpinned by an intricate network of neurobiological mechanisms. This review provides insight into the molecular basis of love, focusing on the role of key hormones and neuromodulators. The aim of the paper is to report how these biochemical messengers influence various aspects of love, including attraction, attachment, and long-term bonding. By examining the effects of hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, and serotonin, we aim to elucidate the intricate relationship between biology and behavior. Additionally, the potential impact of modern lifestyle factors on hormonal balance and their subsequent influence on love and social interactions are outlined. This review provides a useful overview of the molecular underpinnings of love, offering insights into the biological mechanisms that shape human relationships.

Association of loneliness with the risk of pain in older Chinese adults

This study investigates the long-term effects of loneliness on pain experiences in older Chinese adults, focusing on the mediating role of depression. Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2013-2020) included 1,592 participants aged 60 and above. Using robust mixed-effects logistic regression models, the study found that lonely participants were more likely to experience 12 site pain: headache (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.09-1.39), shoulder (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.04-1.30), wrist (OR 1.14; 95%CI 1.01-1.28), finger (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28), chest (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.10-1.44), stomach (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.12-1.46), back (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.00-1.51), waist (OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.17-1.83), buttock (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.02-1.30), leg (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.08-1.33), knee (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.04-1.30), and toe (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.04-1.34) than participants who were not lonely. No such finding was found for neck, arm, or ankle pain. The risk of pain due to loneliness did not decrease with an increase in the frequency of social activities. These findings emphasize the need to address mental health as a crucial factor in pain prevention and management.

Social pain: A systematic review on interventions

Social pain is emotional distress caused by harm or threat to social connections that results in social exclusion, rejection, or loss. Social Pain is also a potentiator of physical pain. Supportive social relationships are widely recognized for their impact on maintaining health and well-being. The Passion of Jesus Christ serves as a quintessential example of social pain (i.e., desertion, betrayal, denial) potentiating physical pain (i.e., beatings, Crown of Thorns, crucifixion). Christ opts to forgive. Although forgiveness is one solution to reduce social pain, other interventions exist. This review seeks to identify and summarize interventions associated with reducing social pain. We conducted a systematic review using Medline (PubMed), Google Scholar, and Cochrane CENTRAL to identify relevant articles. Results: The database searches produced 548 articles. Fourteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in this systematic review. Acetaminophen, both deceptive and open-label placebos, mindfulness training, and psilocybin were found to reduce social pain. Of note, the combination of acetaminophen and forgiveness yielded superior results compared to either acetaminophen or forgiveness alone. Pharmacological interventions operate on the premise that the neural pathways responsible for physical pain also play a role in social pain. Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions are available for reducing social pain.

Chronic oxytocin improves neural decoupling at rest in children with autism: an exploratory RCT

BACKGROUND

Shifts in peak frequencies of oscillatory neural rhythms are put forward as a principal mechanism by which cross-frequency coupling/decoupling is implemented in the brain. During active neural processing, functional integration is facilitated through transitory formations of "harmonic" cross-frequency couplings, whereas "nonharmonic" decoupling among neural oscillatory rhythms is postulated to characterize the resting, default state of the brain, minimizing the occurrence of spurious, noisy, background couplings.

METHODS

Within this exploratory, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we assessed whether the transient occurrence of nonharmonic and harmonic relationships between peak-frequencies in the alpha (8-14 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) bands is impacted by intranasal administration of oxytocin, a neuromodulator implicated in improving homeostasis and reducing stress/anxiety. To do so, resting-state electroencephalography was acquired before and after 4 weeks of oxytocin administration (12 IU twice-daily) in children with autism spectrum disorder (8-12 years, n = 33 oxytocin; n = 34 placebo). At the baseline, neural assessments of children with autism were compared with those of a matched cohort of children without autism (n = 40).

RESULTS

Compared to nonautistic peers, autistic children displayed a lower incidence of nonharmonic alpha-theta cross-frequency decoupling, indicating a higher incidence of spurious "noisy" coupling in their resting brain (p = .001). Dimensionally, increased neural coupling was associated with more social difficulties (p = .002) and lower activity of the parasympathetic "rest & digest" branch of the autonomic nervous system (p = .018), indexed with high-frequency heart-rate-variability. Notably, after oxytocin administration, the transient formation of nonharmonic cross-frequency configurations was increased in the cohort of autistic children (p < .001), indicating a beneficial effect of oxytocin on reducing spurious cross-frequency-interactions. Furthermore, parallel epigenetics changes of the oxytocin receptor gene indicated that the neural effects were likely mediated by changes in endogenous oxytocinergic signaling (p = .006).

CONCLUSIONS

Chronic oxytocin induced important homeostatic changes in the resting-state intrinsic neural frequency architecture, reflective of reduced noisy oscillatory couplings and improved signal-to-noise properties.

Higher emotional synchronization is modulated by relationship quality in romantic relationships and not in close friendships

Emotions are fundamental to social interaction and deeply intertwined with interpersonal dynamics, especially in romantic relationships. Although the neural basis of interaction processes in romance has been widely explored, the underlying emotions and the connection between relationship quality and neural synchronization remain less understood. Our study employed EEG hyperscanning during a non-interactive video-watching paradigm to compare the emotional coordination between romantic couples and close friends. Couples showed significantly greater behavioral and prefrontal alpha synchronization than friends. Notably, couples with low relationship quality required heightened neural synchronization to maintain robust behavioral synchronization. Further support vector machine analysis underscores the crucial role of prefrontal activity in differentiating couples from friends. In summary, our research addresses gaps concerning how intrinsic emotions linked to relationship quality influence neural and behavioral synchronization by investigating a natural non-interactive context, thereby advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying emotional coordination in romantic relationships.

The dual facilitatory and inhibitory effects of social pain on physical pain perception

Pain is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that encompasses both physical pain experienced physiologically and social pain experienced emotionally. The interactions between them are thought to lead to increased pain load. However, the effect of social pain on physical pain perception during interactions remains unclear. Four experiments were conducted merging physical and social pains to examine the behavioral pattern and neural mechanism of the effect of social pain on physical pain perception. Seemingly paradoxical effects of social pain were observed, which both facilitated and inhibited physical pain perception under different attention orientations. Brain imaging revealed that the posterior insula encoded the facilitatory effect, whereas the frontal pole engaged in the inhibitory effect. At a higher level, the thalamus further modulated both processes, playing a switch-like role under different concern statuses of social pain. These results provide direct evidence for the dual-pathway mechanism of the effect of social pain on physical pain.

Neural mechanisms of priming effects of spicy food pictures induced analgesia

In this study, the effects of the priming of spicy food pictures on pain perception were evaluated in female participants using standardized methods of pain. Results from behavior tests revealed that the priming of spicy food pictures significantly reduced pain perception, particularly at high-pain intensities. Electrophysiological analysis showed that the analgesic effects of spicy food pictures were linked to decreased pain-related event-related potentials, such as N2 and P2 amplitudes, and suppressed θ-oscillations in the sensorimotor cortex. Both N2 amplitudes and θ-oscillations activities were found to be correlated with participants' pain perception. These results suggest that spicy-arousal stimuli may act as an "antagonist" to the increase in N2 amplitudes and θ-oscillations power induced by pain and influence the neuronal networks involved in integrating spontaneous nociceptive resources, which supports the dissociation theory of pain sensation and affection. These findings highlight the potential use of spicy-arousal stimuli as an analgesic and emphasize the importance of considering both the intensity of the stimuli and the individual's emotional state in the assessment and treatment of pain.

Concurrent TMS-EEG and EEG reveal neuroplastic and oscillatory changes associated with self-compassion and negative emotions

Background/Objective

Self-compassion has a consensual relevance for overall mental health, but its mechanisms remain unknown. Using intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) and concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation-electroencephalography (TMS-EEG), this study investigated the causal relationship of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with self-compassion and explored the changes in neuroplasticity and neural dynamics.

Method

Thirty-two healthy participants received iTBS or sham stimulation over the DLPFC, before and after which they were instructed to either use self-compassionate strategies or to be rejected in the context of social rejection and to report the level of self-compassion or negative affect. TMS-evoked potentials were evaluated as novel neuroplastic techniques with N45, P60, N100, and P180.

Results

iTBS uniquely decreased P180 amplitude measured with TMS-EEG whereby sham stimulation had no effect on neuroplasticity. In line with neuroplasticity changes, iTBS enhanced a widespread gamma band power and coherence, which correlated consistently with increased engagement in self-compassion. Meanwhile, iTBS demonstrated opposite effects on theta activity dependent on the social contexts whereby self-compassion decreased and social rejection enhanced it respectively. This unique effect of iTBS on theta activity was also supplemented by the enhancement of theta band coherence following iTBS.

Conclusions

We found a causal relationship between DLPFC and self-compassion. We also provide evidence to indicate widespread gamma activity and connectivity to correlate with self-compassion as well as the critical role of the DLPFC in modulating theta activity and negative emotions.

Autistic traits heighten sensitivity to rejection-induced social pain

Autistic traits-subclinical forms of characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorders-are associated with poor social interactions and high risks for mental health disorders. We hypothesized that altered sensitivity to social rejection is an important contributor to psychological distress observed among individuals with high autistic traits. Experiment 1 adopted a social-judgment task and compared behavioral and neural activity in response to social rejection between participants exhibiting either high or low autistic traits (HAT and LAT, respectively). Rejection-induced hurt feelings, P3 amplitudes, and θ-oscillation magnitudes were greater in the HAT group than in the LAT group. Mediation analysis indicated that autistic traits heighten rejection-induced social pain through increasing frontal-midline θ-oscillations. Responses to nonsocial feedback in the age-judgment task were comparable, confirming that the between-group differences were specific to social negative feedback. Experiment 2 assessed the association between autistic traits, rejection sensitivity, and psychological distress among randomly recruited participants. Results showed that autistic traits affected depressive/anxious symptomatology partially through heightened rejection sensitivity. Therefore, autistic traits heighten sensitivity to rejection-induced social pain that leads to psychological distress. This finding will help facilitate the development of strategies for coping with social pain and improving mental health for individuals with high autistic traits.

Pharmacological Strategies for Suicide Prevention Based on the Social Pain Model: A Scoping Review

Suicidal behaviour is a public health problem whose magnitude is both substantial and increasing. Since many individuals seek medical treatment following a suicide attempt, strategies aimed at reducing further attempts in this population are a valid and feasible secondary prevention approach. An evaluation of the available evidence suggests that existing treatment approaches have a limited efficacy in this setting, highlighting the need for innovative approaches to suicide prevention. Existing research on the neurobiology of social pain has highlighted the importance of this phenomenon as a risk factor for suicide, and has also yielded several attractive targets for pharmacological strategies that could reduce suicidality in patients with suicidal ideation or a recent attempt. In this paper, the evidence related to these targets is synthesized and critically evaluated. The way in which social pain is related to the “anti-suicidal” properties of recently approved treatments, such as ketamine and psilocybin, is examined. Such strategies may be effective for the short-term reduction in suicidal ideation and behaviour, particularly in cases where social pain is identified as a contributory factor. These pharmacological approaches may be effective regardless of the presence or absence of a specific psychiatric diagnosis, but they require careful evaluation.