A cohort study on the relationship between social development and oxytocin dynamics.

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K01753
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Childhood science (childhood environment science)
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: Fujisawa Takashi 福井大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 特命講師 (90434894)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 齋藤 大輔 金沢大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 特任准教授 (30390701)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TOMODA AKEMI 福井大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 教授 (80244135) ; KOSAKA HIROTAKA 福井大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 教授 (70401966)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: オキシトシン / 社会行動 / 唾液 / 視線 / 脳画像 / ホルモン / 環境

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we investigated the effect of oxytocin on social development in childhood and adolescence. We measured them for children and adolescents and investigated the association between the relationship between social behavior and the physiological status for children and adolescents. As results, in the study on early childhood, we observed a negative association between age and both attention toward social cues and salivary oxytocin levels. In the study on adolescence, we investigated the relationship between DNA methylation of oxytocin receptor and its impact on the brain structures of atypical developmental children with difficulties in interpersonal relationships. As results, we observed negative correlations of gray matter volume in the frontal cortex with the methylation, and group with difficulties showed significantly reduced the volume than healthy controls. These results suggest that oxytocin dynamics on critical periods play important role for social development.

Free Research Field

発達社会神経科学