human
***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that is active in the central nervous system and is generally considered to be involved in prosocial behaviors and feelings . In light of its documented positive effect on maternal behavior , we design ed a study to ascertain whether oxytocin exerts any therapeutic effects on depressive symptoms in women affected by maternal postnatal depression . A group of 16 mothers were recruited in a r and omized double-blind study : the women agreed to take part in a brief course of psychoanalytic psychotherapy ( 12 sessions , once a week ) while also being administered , during the 12-weeks period , a daily dose of intranasal oxytocin ( or a placebo ) . The pre-treatment evaluation also included a personality assessment of the major primary -process emotional comm and systems described by Panksepp ( ) and a semi-quantitative assessment by the therapist of the mother ’s depressive symptoms and of her personality . No significant effect on depressive symptomatology was found following the administration of oxytocin ( as compared to a placebo ) during the period of psychotherapy . Nevertheless , a personality trait evaluation of the mothers , conducted in our overall sample group , showed a decrease in the narcissistic trait only within the group who took oxytocin . The depressive ( dysphoric ) trait was in fact significantly affected by psychotherapy ( this effect was only present in the placebo group so it may reflect a positive placebo effect enhancing the favorable influence of psychotherapy on depressive symptoms ) but not in the presence of oxytocin . Therefore , the neuropeptide would appear to play some role in the modulation of cerebral functions involved in the self-centered ( narcissistic ) dimension of the suffering that can occur with postnatal depression . Based on these results , there was support for our hypothesis that what is generally defined as postnatal depression may include disturbances of narcissistic affective balance , and oxytocin supplementation can counteract that type of affective disturbance . The result ing improvements in well-being , reflected in better self-centering in post-partuent mothers , may in turn facilitate better interpersonal acceptance of ( and interactions with ) the child and thereby , improved recognition of the child ’s needs Oxytocin has numerous prosocial and antipsychotic-like effects in animals . Prosocial effects of acute intranasal oxytocin administration have also been reported in human subjects . We conducted a r and omized , placebo-controlled trial testing the effects of twice daily intranasal oxytocin treatment for 14 days on psychotic symptoms and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia .  PANSS scores declined significantly and several social cognition measures improved significantly or nearly significantly in oxytocin ( N=11 ) but not placebo ( N=9 ) recipients . Our results suggest that , in addition to reducing classic psychotic symptoms , oxytocin may diminish certain social cognition deficits that are not improved by current antipsychotic medications Individual psychotherapy is an important treatment for a number of psychiatric conditions and involves a unique form of human attachment . This raises the question of whether oxytocin ( OT ) , the paradigmatic " attachment hormone " , may have benefits in this context . In this r and omized , double-blind , crossover trial , we gave male psychiatric out patients with major depressive disorder 40 IU  intranasal OT or placebo before a videotaped session with a therapist and measured a number of subjective , physiological , and behavioral parameters . We report three main findings . Surprisingly - in contrast to prior reports of OT 's anxiolytic properties - we found OT caused an increase in anxiety over the course of the therapy session . Secondly , though it had no main effect on cortisol , eye contact , or overall behavior , we did find that OT caused a decrease in nonverbal behaviors that cut off social contact , after controlling for level of depressive symptoms . Lastly , we replicated prior findings that OT improves social cognition ( performance on the reading the mind in the eyes test ( RMET ) ) , albeit in a depressed patient group . These results inform future studies of oxytocin and psychotherapy and suggest that in certain clinical population s and context s , OT has heterogeneous subjective effects which may include acute anxiogenesis . Moreover , the similarity of some of these acute effects to those of single-dose serotonergic antidepressants raises interesting questions about the potential antidepressant benefits of chronic OT administration Postnatal depression ( PND ) is common and negatively affects the mother – infant relationship ; oxytocin ( OT ) has been found to have positive effects on parenting , although psychiatric disorders may reduce these effects . Thus , we explored the role of OT in mothers diagnosed with PND . A within-subject , r and omized controlled double-blind design was used to test the effects of nasal administration of OT or placebo on sensitive caregiving . The outcome measures were perceptual and caregiving responses to prerecorded cry sounds , as well as observed maternal sensitivity . We found that in the OT condition mothers with PND were more likely to rate an infant cry as more urgent and they were more likely to indicate they would chose a harsh caregiving strategy in response . There was no effect of OT on maternal sensitive interaction with their own baby . Further research is required prior to consideration of OT administration in depressed mothers of infants Gossip is a pervasive social behavior . Its evolutionary survival seems related to its social functions , such as establishing group rules , punishing trespassers , exercising social influence through reputational systems , and developing and strengthening social bonds . We aim ed at evaluating the effect of gossip on hormones ( oxytocin and cortisol ) and at identifying potential mediators of hormonal response to gossip . Twenty-two female students were r and omly assigned to a  gossip conversation  or to an emotional non-gossip conversation .  Additionally , all participants underwent a neutral conversation on the second day of the study . Salivary oxytocin and cortisol levels were measured . Oxytocin increased significantly in the gossip compared to the emotional non-gossip conversation . A decrease in cortisol levels was observed in all three conditions ( gossip , emotional non-gossip , neutral ) . Change in cortisol levels was similar across conditions . Psychological characteristics ( e.g. empathy , autistic traits , perceived stress , envy ) did not affect oxytocin rise in the gossip condition . Our findings suggest that oxytocin may represent a potential hormonal correlate of gossip behavior Flaws in the design , conduct , analysis , and reporting of r and omised trials can cause the effect of an intervention to be underestimated or overestimated . The Cochrane Collaboration ’s tool for assessing risk of bias aims to make the process clearer and more The neuropeptide oxytocin ( OXT ) plays an important role in complex socio-affective behaviours such as affiliation , attachment , stress and anxiety . Previous studies have focused on the amygdala as an important target of OXT 's effects . However , the effects of OXT on connectivity of the amygdala with cortical regions such as medial frontal cortex , an important mediator of social cognition and emotion regulation , remain unexplored . In a r and omized , double-blind , cross-over design , 15 volunteers received intranasal OXT or placebo prior to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging . OXT significantly increased connectivity between both amygdalae and rostral medial frontal cortex ( rmFC ) , while having only negligible effects on coupling with other brain regions . These results demonstrate that OXT is a robust and highly selective enhancer of amygdala connectivity with rmFC , a region critical to social cognition and emotion regulation , and add to our underst and ing of the neural mechanisms by which OXT modulates complex social and cognitive behaviours BACKGROUND Successful parenting requires maternal behaviors that promote infant survival such as protection from predators . In animal studies , oxytocin ( OT ) has been linked to maternal aggression to protect offspring . No human study has explored this topic . Mothers with a diagnosis of postnatal depression ( PND ) are at higher risk of neglecting their infants . We hypothesized that intranasal OT administration would increase the protective behaviors of mothers with PND , toward their infants . METHODS Sixteen mothers with a diagnosis of PND participated in a double-blind , r and omized-controlled , within-subject pilot study . Participants received intranasal OT during one visit and placebo spray on the alternate visit . Maternal protective behavior toward their infant was measured , in the presence of a socially intrusive stranger . RESULTS The enthusiastic stranger paradigm stimulated participants ' protective responses in the presence of an intrusive stranger . Furthermore , this protective response of mothers with a diagnosis of PND was increased in the OT condition . CONCLUSIONS The study introduces a new paradigm , the enthusiastic stranger paradigm , which may be used to examine a neglected type of parental behavior , that is , protection of offspring . The protective response of mothers with PND increased , in line with the ' tend and defend ' effects of OT in animal models . In future work it should be tested whether this protection effect can also be found in non clinical sample s , or whether it is specific for clinical ly depressed mothers The neuropeptide oxytocin ( OXT ) is thought to attenuate anxiety by dampening amygdala reactivity to threat in individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder ( GSAD ) . Because the brain is organized into networks of interconnected areas , it is likely that OXT impacts functional coupling between the amygdala and other socio-emotional areas of the brain . Therefore , the aim of the current study was to examine the effects of OXT on amygdala functional connectivity during the processing of fearful faces in GSAD subjects and healthy controls ( HCs ) . In a r and omized , double-blind , placebo (PBO)-controlled , within-subjects design , 18 HCs and 17 GSAD subjects performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging task design ed to probe amygdala response to fearful faces following acute intranasal administration of PBO or OXT . Functional connectivity between the amygdala and the rest of the brain was compared between OXT and PBO sessions using generalized psychophysiological interaction analyses . Results indicated that within individuals with GSAD , but not HCs , OXT enhanced functional connectivity between the amygdala and the bilateral insula and middle cingulate/dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus during the processing of fearful faces . These findings suggest that OXT may have broad pro-social implication s such as enhancing the integration and modulation of social responses Oxytocin is known to regulate prosocial behavior and social cognition in animals ( Ross & Young , 2009 ) , and recent studies suggest that oxytocin may have similar functions in humans . For example , oxytocin increases trust ( Kosfeld , Heinrichs , Zak , Fischbacher , & Fehr , 2005 ) and accuracy in mental-state attribution ( Domes , Heinrichs , Michel , Berger , & Herpertz , 2007 ; Guastella et al. , 2009 ) . These findings have generated excitement about oxytocin ’s potential to ameliorate social deficits in such disorders as social phobia and autism ( Bartz & Holl and er , 2006 ; Guastella et al. , 2009 ; Kosfeld et al. , 2005 ) . This excitement has not been confined to the scientific community : Dubbed the “ hormone of love , ” oxytocin is a common topic in the popular press . Is oxytocin truly a universal social panacea ? Although some studies have shown that oxytocin improves social cognition and empathy ( Domes et al. , 2007 ; Guastella et al. , 2009 ) , others have not ( Singer et al. , 2008 ) . Even studies demonstrating positive effects have ambiguities : Domes et al. ( 2007 ) found that oxytocin improved performance for difficult — but not easy — test items . These observations imply that rather than working universally , oxytocin may selectively facilitate social cognition given certain constraints . For example , by altering specific motivational or cognitive states , oxytocin might increase the salience of social cues , which in turn could improve social-cognitive performance for some individuals , but not others . The effects of oxytocin , then , should be most pronounced in individuals who — at baseline — are less socially proficient ; this would be consistent with broader interactionist views emphasizing that individual differences in competencies interact with situational variables to determine behavior ( Mischel & Shoda , 1995 ) . To test whether normal variance in social proficiency  moderates the effects of oxytocin on social-cognitive performance , we used a r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , crossover challenge in which participants received either intranasal oxytocin or a placebo and performed an empathicaccuracy task that naturalistically measures social-cognitive abilities ( Zaki , Bolger , & Ochsner , 2008 ) . We measured variance in baseline social competencies with the Autism Spectrum Quotient ( AQ ; Baron-Cohen , Wheelwright , Skinner , Martin , & Clubley , 2001 ) , a self-report instrument that predicts social-cognitive performance ( Baron-Cohen , Wheelwright , Hill , Raste , & Plumb , 2001 ) . We hypothesized that drug condition and AQ score would interact to predict performance on the empathic-accuracy task  , with oxytocin having the most pronounced effects for less socially proficient individuals ( i.e. , those with higher AQ scores ) Background Chronic depression is characterized by a high degree of early life trauma , psychosocial impairment , and deficits in social cognition . Undisturbed recognition and processing of facial emotions are basic prerequisites for smooth social interactions . Intranasal application of the neuropeptide oxytocin has been reported to enhance emotion recognition in neuropsychiatric disorders and healthy individuals . We therefore investigated whether oxytocin modulates attention to emotional faces in patients with chron 
    Output:
    
agent
Results showed no significant effects on core symptomatology .
In conclusion , up to date , evidence regarding the potential utility of IN-OT in treating anxiety and depression is still inconclusive .
***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that is active in the central nervous system and is generally considered to be involved in prosocial behaviors and feelings . In light of its documented positive effect on maternal behavior , we design ed a study to ascertain whether oxytocin exerts any therapeutic effects on depressive symptoms in women affected by maternal postnatal depression . A group of 16 mothers were recruited in a r and omized double-blind study : the women agreed to take part in a brief course of psychoanalytic psychotherapy ( 12 sessions , once a week ) while also being administered , during the 12-weeks period , a daily dose of intranasal oxytocin ( or a placebo ) . The pre-treatment evaluation also included a personality assessment of the major primary -process emotional comm and systems described by Panksepp ( ) and a semi-quantitative assessment by the therapist of the mother ’s depressive symptoms and of her personality . No significant effect on depressive symptomatology was found following the administration of oxytocin ( as compared to a placebo ) during the period of psychotherapy . Nevertheless , a personality trait evaluation of the mothers , conducted in our overall sample group , showed a decrease in the narcissistic trait only within the group who took oxytocin . The depressive ( dysphoric ) trait was in fact significantly affected by psychotherapy ( this effect was only present in the placebo group so it may reflect a positive placebo effect enhancing the favorable influence of psychotherapy on depressive symptoms ) but not in the presence of oxytocin . Therefore , the neuropeptide would appear to play some role in the modulation of cerebral functions involved in the self-centered ( narcissistic ) dimension of the suffering that can occur with postnatal depression . Based on these results , there was support for our hypothesis that what is generally defined as postnatal depression may include disturbances of narcissistic affective balance , and oxytocin supplementation can counteract that type of affective disturbance . The result ing improvements in well-being , reflected in better self-centering in post-partuent mothers , may in turn facilitate better interpersonal acceptance of ( and interactions with ) the child and thereby , improved recognition of the child ’s needs Oxytocin has numerous prosocial and antipsychotic-like effects in animals . Prosocial effects of acute intranasal oxytocin administration have also been reported in human subjects . We conducted a r and omized , placebo-controlled trial testing the effects of twice daily intranasal oxytocin treatment for 14 days on psychotic symptoms and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia .  PANSS scores declined significantly and several social cognition measures improved significantly or nearly significantly in oxytocin ( N=11 ) but not placebo ( N=9 ) recipients . Our results suggest that , in addition to reducing classic psychotic symptoms , oxytocin may diminish certain social cognition deficits that are not improved by current antipsychotic medications Individual psychotherapy is an important treatment for a number of psychiatric conditions and involves a unique form of human attachment . This raises the question of whether oxytocin ( OT ) , the paradigmatic " attachment hormone " , may have benefits in this context . In this r and omized , double-blind , crossover trial , we gave male psychiatric out patients with major depressive disorder 40 IU  intranasal OT or placebo before a videotaped session with a therapist and measured a number of subjective , physiological , and behavioral parameters . We report three main findings . Surprisingly - in contrast to prior reports of OT 's anxiolytic properties - we found OT caused an increase in anxiety over the course of the therapy session . Secondly , though it had no main effect on cortisol , eye contact , or overall behavior , we did find that OT caused a decrease in nonverbal behaviors that cut off social contact , after controlling for level of depressive symptoms . Lastly , we replicated prior findings that OT improves social cognition ( performance on the reading the mind in the eyes test ( RMET ) ) , albeit in a depressed patient group . These results inform future studies of oxytocin and psychotherapy and suggest that in certain clinical population s and context s , OT has heterogeneous subjective effects which may include acute anxiogenesis . Moreover , the similarity of some of these acute effects to those of single-dose serotonergic antidepressants raises interesting questions about the potential antidepressant benefits of chronic OT administration Postnatal depression ( PND ) is common and negatively affects the mother – infant relationship ; oxytocin ( OT ) has been found to have positive effects on parenting , although psychiatric disorders may reduce these effects . Thus , we explored the role of OT in mothers diagnosed with PND . A within-subject , r and omized controlled double-blind design was used to test the effects of nasal administration of OT or placebo on sensitive caregiving . The outcome measures were perceptual and caregiving responses to prerecorded cry sounds , as well as observed maternal sensitivity . We found that in the OT condition mothers with PND were more likely to rate an infant cry as more urgent and they were more likely to indicate they would chose a harsh caregiving strategy in response . There was no effect of OT on maternal sensitive interaction with their own baby . Further research is required prior to consideration of OT administration in depressed mothers of infants Gossip is a pervasive social behavior . Its evolutionary survival seems related to its social functions , such as establishing group rules , punishing trespassers , exercising social influence through reputational systems , and developing and strengthening social bonds . We aim ed at evaluating the effect of gossip on hormones ( oxytocin and cortisol ) and at identifying potential mediators of hormonal response to gossip . Twenty-two female students were r and omly assigned to a  gossip conversation  or to an emotional non-gossip conversation .  Additionally , all participants underwent a neutral conversation on the second day of the study . Salivary oxytocin and cortisol levels were measured . Oxytocin increased significantly in the gossip compared to the emotional non-gossip conversation . A decrease in cortisol levels was observed in all three conditions ( gossip , emotional non-gossip , neutral ) . Change in cortisol levels was similar across conditions . Psychological characteristics ( e.g. empathy , autistic traits , perceived stress , envy ) did not affect oxytocin rise in the gossip condition . Our findings suggest that oxytocin may represent a potential hormonal correlate of gossip behavior Flaws in the design , conduct , analysis , and reporting of r and omised trials can cause the effect of an intervention to be underestimated or overestimated . The Cochrane Collaboration ’s tool for assessing risk of bias aims to make the process clearer and more The neuropeptide oxytocin ( OXT ) plays an important role in complex socio-affective behaviours such as affiliation , attachment , stress and anxiety . Previous studies have focused on the amygdala as an important target of OXT 's effects . However , the effects of OXT on connectivity of the amygdala with cortical regions such as medial frontal cortex , an important mediator of social cognition and emotion regulation , remain unexplored . In a r and omized , double-blind , cross-over design , 15 volunteers received intranasal OXT or placebo prior to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging . OXT significantly increased connectivity between both amygdalae and rostral medial frontal cortex ( rmFC ) , while having only negligible effects on coupling with other brain regions . These results demonstrate that OXT is a robust and highly selective enhancer of amygdala connectivity with rmFC , a region critical to social cognition and emotion regulation , and add to our underst and ing of the neural mechanisms by which OXT modulates complex social and cognitive behaviours BACKGROUND Successful parenting requires maternal behaviors that promote infant survival such as protection from predators . In animal studies , oxytocin ( OT ) has been linked to maternal aggression to protect offspring . No human study has explored this topic . Mothers with a diagnosis of postnatal depression ( PND ) are at higher risk of neglecting their infants . We hypothesized that intranasal OT administration would increase the protective behaviors of mothers with PND , toward their infants . METHODS Sixteen mothers with a diagnosis of PND participated in a double-blind , r and omized-controlled , within-subject pilot study . Participants received intranasal OT during one visit and placebo spray on the alternate visit . Maternal protective behavior toward their infant was measured , in the presence of a socially intrusive stranger . RESULTS The enthusiastic stranger paradigm stimulated participants ' protective responses in the presence of an intrusive stranger . Furthermore , this protective response of mothers with a diagnosis of PND was increased in the OT condition . CONCLUSIONS The study introduces a new paradigm , the enthusiastic stranger paradigm , which may be used to examine a neglected type of parental behavior , that is , protection of offspring . The protective response of mothers with PND increased , in line with the ' tend and defend ' effects of OT in animal models . In future work it should be tested whether this protection effect can also be found in non clinical sample s , or whether it is specific for clinical ly depressed mothers The neuropeptide oxytocin ( OXT ) is thought to attenuate anxiety by dampening amygdala reactivity to threat in individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder ( GSAD ) . Because the brain is organized into networks of interconnected areas , it is likely that OXT impacts functional coupling between the amygdala and other socio-emotional areas of the brain . Therefore , the aim of the current study was to examine the effects of OXT on amygdala functional connectivity during the processing of fearful faces in GSAD subjects and healthy controls ( HCs ) . In a r and omized , double-blind , placebo (PBO)-controlled , within-subjects design , 18 HCs and 17 GSAD subjects performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging task design ed to probe amygdala response to fearful faces following acute intranasal administration of PBO or OXT . Functional connectivity between the amygdala and the rest of the brain was compared between OXT and PBO sessions using generalized psychophysiological interaction analyses . Results indicated that within individuals with GSAD , but not HCs , OXT enhanced functional connectivity between the amygdala and the bilateral insula and middle cingulate/dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus during the processing of fearful faces . These findings suggest that OXT may have broad pro-social implication s such as enhancing the integration and modulation of social responses Oxytocin is known to regulate prosocial behavior and social cognition in animals ( Ross & Young , 2009 ) , and recent studies suggest that oxytocin may have similar functions in humans . For example , oxytocin increases trust ( Kosfeld , Heinrichs , Zak , Fischbacher , & Fehr , 2005 ) and accuracy in mental-state attribution ( Domes , Heinrichs , Michel , Berger , & Herpertz , 2007 ; Guastella et al. , 2009 ) . These findings have generated excitement about oxytocin ’s potential to ameliorate social deficits in such disorders as social phobia and autism ( Bartz & Holl and er , 2006 ; Guastella et al. , 2009 ; Kosfeld et al. , 2005 ) . This excitement has not been confined to the scientific community : Dubbed the “ hormone of love , ” oxytocin is a common topic in the popular press . Is oxytocin truly a universal social panacea ? Although some studies have shown that oxytocin improves social cognition and empathy ( Domes et al. , 2007 ; Guastella et al. , 2009 ) , others have not ( Singer et al. , 2008 ) . Even studies demonstrating positive effects have ambiguities : Domes et al. ( 2007 ) found that oxytocin improved performance for difficult — but not easy — test items . These observations imply that rather than working universally , oxytocin may selectively facilitate social cognition given certain constraints . For example , by altering specific motivational or cognitive states , oxytocin might increase the salience of social cues , which in turn could improve social-cognitive performance for some individuals , but not others . The effects of oxytocin , then , should be most pronounced in individuals who — at baseline — are less socially proficient ; this would be consistent with broader interactionist views emphasizing that individual differences in competencies interact with situational variables to determine behavior ( Mischel & Shoda , 1995 ) . To test whether normal variance in social proficiency  moderates the effects of oxytocin on social-cognitive performance , we used a r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , crossover challenge in which participants received either intranasal oxytocin or a placebo and performed an empathicaccuracy task that naturalistically measures social-cognitive abilities ( Zaki , Bolger , & Ochsner , 2008 ) . We measured variance in baseline social competencies with the Autism Spectrum Quotient ( AQ ; Baron-Cohen , Wheelwright , Skinner , Martin , & Clubley , 2001 ) , a self-report instrument that predicts social-cognitive performance ( Baron-Cohen , Wheelwright , Hill , Raste , & Plumb , 2001 ) . We hypothesized that drug condition and AQ score would interact to predict performance on the empathic-accuracy task  , with oxytocin having the most pronounced effects for less socially proficient individuals ( i.e. , those with higher AQ scores ) Background Chronic depression is characterized by a high degree of early life trauma , psychosocial impairment , and deficits in social cognition . Undisturbed recognition and processing of facial emotions are basic prerequisites for smooth social interactions . Intranasal application of the neuropeptide oxytocin has been reported to enhance emotion recognition in neuropsychiatric disorders and healthy individuals . We therefore investigated whether oxytocin modulates attention to emotional faces in patients with chron 
    Output:
    