The Role of Oxytocin in the Perception of Faces

Rodrigo Cardenas

Status and phase: Completed; Early Phase 1

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Other: Placebo; Drug: Syntocinon (synthetic oxytocin)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT02443727

STUDY00001225

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main objective of this project is to study whether intranasal oxytocin (OT) affects how young adults perceive and attend to infant and adult faces. Based on existing research the investigators predict that oxytocin will facilitate the allocation of attentional resources on infant faces (compared to adult faces). The investigators also predict that oxytocin will enhance the activity of reward neural-networks associated with the perception of infant faces. The behavioral effects of OT (visual attention and face recognition) will be measured with eye-tracking while participants look at photographs of adult and infant faces. Neurological effects (the activity of emotion and reward networks) will be measured with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while participants look at infant faces on a computer screen.

Enrollment: 71 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy Volunteers
• Norma or corrected to norma vision
• Participants are non parents
• Able to provide written informed consent and to comply with all study procedures

Exclusion criteria

• Dementia or severe cognitive disorders
• Endocrine disease or malignancy
• Nasal obstruction or upper-respiratory tract infection
• Current or previous psychiatric disorder
• Current or previous use of psychoactive drugs
• Alcoholism or substance abuse
• History of seizures
• Neurological Disorder
• Previous head trauma
• Hypertension
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Claustrophobia
• ferrous metal in any part of the body

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

---

71 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Intranasal oxytocin group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will self-administer a single dose of 24 IU oxytocin (Syntocinon, Novartis; three puffs per nostril, each with 4 IU oxytocin, 6 puffs total).

Treatment:

Drug: Syntocinon (synthetic oxytocin)

Placebo group

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The placebo is identical to the oxytocin formulation with the exception of the active compound. Participants will self-administer three puffs per nostril of placebo (6 puffs total).

Treatment:

Other: Placebo