Oxytocin and Social Cognition

University Hospital Bonn (UKB)

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 1

Conditions: Healthy Male Volunteers

Treatments: Drug: Oxytocin

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01606462

OXT-071/10

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine whether oxytocin influences memory of social stimuli and reaction to social stimuli. Furthermore the investigators explore the effect of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) polymorphism in terms of behavioral and neural responses to social stimuli.

Full description

The prevailing view of OXT as a key facilitator of prosocial behaviors has been highly influenced by a plethora of studies in healthy volunteers, which demonstrated increased interpersonal trust, generosity, social learning/empathy and positively biased social stimulus processing as a result of OXT treatment. However, this interpretation is challenged by observations that OXT also promotes envy and schadenfreude (gloating), ethno-centrism (including prejudice, xenophobia, and racial bias), and defensive aggression towards outsiders.We investigate the neural correlates of emotion perception and subsequent memory effects of aversive and neutral stimuli. Tthe oxytocin effect on personal space is questioned. Additionally the effect of OXTR polymorphism regarding behavioral and neural response is explored.

Enrollment: 153 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 20 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy male volunteers

Exclusion criteria

• Current or past psychiatric disease
• Current or past physical illness
• Psychoactive medication
• Tobacco smokers
• MRI contraindication

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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153 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Oxytocin

Experimental group

Description:

one application of 24 IU oxytocin per volunteer

Treatment:

Drug: Oxytocin

Placebo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

sodium chloride solution, intranasal application, 3 puffs per nostril one application per volunteer

Treatment:

Drug: Oxytocin