Maternal care is associated with neural and behavioral effects of oxytocin administration during empathic accuracy in schizophrenia and controls

Empathic accuracy, the ability to accurately understand other people’s emotions, is a complex social cognitive skill that is often impaired in schizophrenia and this impairment is associated with poor functional outcomes. Intranasally administered oxytocin, a neuropeptide implicated in social behavior, is thought to improve empathic accuracy for individuals with schizophrenia. However, early experiences related to caregiving may shape the oxytocinergic system and influence individual responses to oxytocin administration. Using a cross-over, double-blind, placebo-controlled design coupled with fMRI, the current study investigated whether administration of oxytocin improves empathic accuracy in schizophrenia compared to a matched placebo, and the moderating role of early maternal care. Results revealed that, compared to controls, individuals with schizophrenia had lower empathic accuracy and recruited a sparser pattern of neural activation to achieve empathic accuracy. Oxytocin administration was not associated with improved empathic accuracy for either group. However, in both groups, individuals reporting higher maternal care demonstrated the greatest improvements in empathic accuracy with oxytocin administration, accompanied by decreased activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region implicated in selective attention to socioemotional stimuli. Findings highlight the importance of examining individual differences in responses to oxytocin administration and suggest that early social experiences influence later responses to oxytocin administration.