Human endogenous oxytocin and its neural correlates show adaptive responses to social touch based on recent social context

Abstract Both oxytocin (OT) and touch are key mediators of social attachment. In rodents, tactile stimulation elicits endogenous release of OT, potentially facilitating attachment and other forms of prosocial behavior, yet the relationship between endogenous OT and neural modulation remains unexplored in humans. Using serial sampling of plasma hormone levels during functional neuroimaging, we show that contextual circumstances of social touch facilitate or inhibit not only current hormonal and brain responses, but also calibrate later responses. Namely, touch from a romantic partner enhanced subsequent OT release for touch from an unfamiliar stranger, yet OT responses to partner touch were dampened following stranger touch. Hypothalamus and dorsal raphe activation reflected plasma OT changes during the initial interaction. In the subsequent social interaction, OT modulation depended on the previous interaction, mediated by precuneus and parietal-temporal cortex pathways, including a region of medial prefrontal cortex that also covaried with plasma cortisol. These findings demonstrate that hormonal neuromodulation during successive human social interactions is adaptive to social context, and they point to mechanisms that flexibly calibrate receptivity in social encounters.