Oxytocin-a social peptide? Deconstructing the evidence

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the claim that oxytocin is a 'social neuropeptide'. This claim originated from evidence that oxytocin was instrumental in the initiation of maternal behaviour and it was extended to become the claim that oxytocin has a key role in promoting social interactions between individuals. We begin by considering the structure of the scientific literature on this topic, identifying closely interconnected clusters of papers on particular themes. We then analyse this claim by considering evidence of four types as generated by these clusters: (i) mechanistic studies in animal models, designed to understand the pathways involved in the behavioural effects of centrally administered oxytocin; (ii) evidence from observational studies indicating an association between oxytocin signalling pathways and social behaviour; (iii) evidence from intervention studies, mainly involving intranasal oxytocin administration; and (iv) evidence from translational studies of patients with disorders of social behaviour. We then critically analyse the most highly cited papers in each segment of the evidence; we conclude that, if these represent the best evidence, then the evidence for the claim is weak. This article is part of the theme issue 'Interplays between oxytocin and other neuromodulators in shaping complex social behaviours'.

Keywords: citation network; oxytocin; social behaviour.

Figure 1.

Citation network of articles on oxytocin and social behaviour. The network is composed of 1892 papers (nodes) connected by 26 019 citation links (edges). The nodes are coloured via their cluster membership as determined by modularity maximization (Q = 0.43|7 clusters), the circles around each cluster are conjoined to labels that describe the focus of the papers within that cluster. Nodes are sized relative to their indegree, and edges between nodes, represented by lines, are coloured by the colour of the citing paper.