Oxytocin plays a vital role in social behavior and homeostatic processes, with animal models indicating that oxytocin receptor (OXTR) expression patterns in the brain influence behavior and physiology. However, the developmental trajectory of OXTR gene expression is unclear. By analyzing gene expression data in human post-mortem brain samples, from the prenatal period to late adulthood, we demonstrate distinct patterns of OXTR gene expression in the developing brain, with increasing OXTR expression along the course of the prenatal period culminating in a peak during early childhood. This early life OXTR expression peak pattern appears slightly earlier in a comparative macaque sample, which is consistent with the relative immaturity of the human brain during early life compared to macaques. We also show that a network of genes with strong spatiotemporal couplings with OXTR is enriched in several psychiatric illness and body composition phenotypes. Taken together, these results demonstrate that oxytocin signaling plays an important role in a diverse set of psychological and somatic processes across the lifespan.

Oxytocin plays a vital role in social behavior and homeostatic processes, with animal models indicating that oxytocin receptor (OXTR) expression patterns in the brain influence behavior and physiology. Here we demonstrate a distinct pattern of OXTR gene expression in the human brain across the lifespan, with an OXTR expression peak during early childhood. We also show that networks of genes with strong spatio-temporal couplings with OXTR are enriched in several psychiatric illness and body composition phenotypes.

Oxytocin has received considerable research attention for its role in affiliative behaviors, particularly regarding its pro-social effects. However, more recent evidence has pointed to a potentially broader role of oxytocin signaling, which includes the moderation of non-social cognition. To evaluate the evidence for non-social effects of oxytocin administration, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis with 19 effect estimates from 12 studies. We found no overall significant effect of oxytocin administration on non-social executive functions (p = 0.21; Hedges’ g = 0.10). However, effect sizes across sub-categories of executive function varied, where the effect of oxytocin administration was the largest for cognitive flexibility (Hedges’ g = 0.27). Publication bias was assessed using Robust Bayesian Meta-Analysis, which yielded anecdotal support for the absence of publication bias (BFPB = 0.97). Altogether, our data analysis suggests that oxytocin’s effects may extend beyond social cognitive processing as data synthesis provided evidence supporting a role in non-social cognitive flexibility. The data and analysis output from this meta-analysis are provided via a point-and-click web application.

Oxytocin has received considerable research attention for its role in social cognition and behavior. However, there is emerging evidence that oxytocin may operate in a more domain-general way by also moderating non-social cognition in both animals and humans. This protocol describes a planned systematic review and meta-analysis that will investigate if oxytocin facilitates executive function outside social contexts and which factors may moderate this effect.