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The Role of the Oxytocin System in Anxiety Disorders

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Anxiety Disorders

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1191))

Abstract

Oxytocin, a neuropeptide synthesized by the hypothalamus, plays a central role in human social behavior, social cognition, anxiety, mood, stress modulation, and fear learning and extinction. The relationships between oxytocin and psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder have been extensively studied. In this chapter, we focus on the current knowledge about oxytocin and anxiety disorder. We discuss the anxiolytic effects of oxytocin in preclinical and clinical findings, possible related neurobehavioral mechanisms (social cognition, fear learning, and extinction), related neurotransmitter and neuroendocrine systems (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, serotoninergic, and GABAergic systems), and studies regarding plasma levels of oxytocin, genetic and epigenetic findings, and effects of intranasal oxytocin in DSM-5 anxiety disorder (primarily social anxiety disorder and separation anxiety disorder) patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu, Korea

    Seoyoung Yoon

  2. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea

    Yong-Ku Kim

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  1. Seoyoung Yoon
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  1. College of Medicine, Korea University, Gyeonggido, Korea (Republic of)

    Yong-Ku Kim

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Yoon, S., Kim, YK. (2020). The Role of the Oxytocin System in Anxiety Disorders. In: Kim, YK. (eds) Anxiety Disorders. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1191. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9705-0_7

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