The rewarding properties of social interactions are essential for the expression of social behavior and the development of adaptive social relationships. Here, we review sex differences in social reward, and more specifically, how oxytocin (OT) acts in the mesolimbic dopamine system (MDS) to mediate the rewarding properties of social interactions in a sex-dependent manner. Evidence from rodents and humans suggests that same-sex social interactions may be more rewarding in females than in males. We propose that there is an inverted U relationship between OT dose, social reward, and neural activity within structures of the MDS in both males and females, and that this dose-response relationship is initiated at lower doses in females than males. As a result, depending on the dose of OT administered, OT could reduce social reward in females, while enhancing it in males. Sex differences in the neural mechanisms regulating social reward may contribute to sex differences in the incidence of a large number of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. This review addresses the potential significance of a sex-dependent inverted U dose-response function for OT's effects on social reward and in the development of gender-specific therapies for these disorders.

中文翻译：

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催产素对社会奖赏的性别依赖性调节：倒U假说。


社会互动的奖励特性对于社会行为的表达和适应性社会关系的发展至关重要。在这里，我们回顾了社会奖励的性别差异，更具体地说，催产素 (OT) 如何在中脑边缘多巴胺系统 (MDS) 中发挥作用，以性别依赖的方式调节社会互动的奖励特性。来自啮齿动物和人类的证据表明，同性社交互动对女性来说可能比男性更有价值。我们认为，男性和女性的 OT 剂量、社会奖励和 MDS 结构内的神经活动之间都存在倒 U 型关系，并且这种剂量反应关系在女性中以低于男性的剂量开始。因此，根据 OT 的剂量，OT 可能会降低女性的社会回报，而提高男性的社会回报。调节社会奖赏的神经机制的性别差异可能导致大量精神和神经发育障碍的发病率存在性别差异。这篇综述探讨了性别依赖性倒 U 剂量反应函数对于 OT 对社会奖励的影响以及开发针对这些疾病的性别特异性疗法的潜在意义。