Mentalization, Oxytocin, and Cortisol in the General Population

Overview

Journal Life (Basel)

Specialty Biology

Date 2023 Jun 28

PMID 37374111

Authors

Edina Torok

Oguz Kelemen

Szabolcs Keri

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Although evidence suggests the role of oxytocin and cortisol in social cognition and emotion regulation, it is less known how their peripheral levels are related to social perception (biological motion detection) and mentalization (self-reflection, emotional awareness, and affect regulation) in the general population. We assessed 150 healthy individuals from the general community on a mentalization questionnaire, a scale measuring the intensity of positive and negative emotions, and measured oxytocin and cortisol levels in the saliva. Oxytocin but not cortisol level and biological motion detection predicted mentalization abilities. There was a positive correlation between mentalization and positive emotions and between mentalization and biological motion detection. These results suggest that oxytocin, but not cortisol, plays a role in low-level perceptual and self-reflective aspects of social cognition.

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