The overall goal of this project is to identify the genetic, hormonal, and neurobiological
influences on paternal nurturing behavior and to determine if fathers' neural responses to
infants can be modulated by neuropeptides known to play a role in parenting in experimental
animal models.
The aim is to determine if pharmacological manipulation of central oxytocin (OT) and
vasopressin (AVP) levels influences the neural response to viewing pictures of one's own
infant or to hearing cry stimuli. In a double-blind procedure, fathers with 1-3 year old
children will be scanned on two separate occasions; once under the influence of OT/AVP and
once under the influence of placebo. Fathers will be randomized to either OT or AVP, and
order of administration of drug and placebo will counterbalanced across subjects. Fathers
will be scanned while viewing pictures of their own and an unknown child and while listening
to unknown infant cry stimuli.
The investigators hypothesize:
- OT will augment the ventral tegmental area (VTA), ventral striatum and medial
orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) response to viewing pictures of one's own child, and will
augment the primary auditory cortex (AI) response of fathers to infant cries.
- AVP will augment the lateral septum response to viewing own child pictures.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
James K. Rilling, PhD
Collaborator:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)