The Modulatory Effect of Oxytocin on Interoception

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Interoception
• Interventions: Drug: placebo; Drug: oxytocin

• Registration Number: NCT03074409
• Lead Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Brief Summary

This study is designed to investigate oxytocin's effects on interoception and whether these effects vary as a function of different emotional valence.

Detailed Description

The present study will use a double-blind, between-subject, placebo-controlled design to investigate the modulatory effect of oxytocin on interoception and whether this effect will vary as a function of emotional valence. In Experiment 1, subjects will perform a heartbeat detection task and the group differences between oxytocin and placebo groups of the interoceptive accuracy and neural activity in the core interoceptive network will be investigated. In Experiment 2, subjects will be asked to watch emotional faces while perform the heartbeat detection task. Investigators will examine whether oxytocin's effects on interoception will be varied as a function of different emotional valence.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2017-03-02
• Study First Submitted: 2017-03-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-03-07
• Study First Posted: 2017-03-08
• Primary Completion: 2017-09-06
• Study Completion: 2017-09-12
• Results First Submitted: 2018-10-29
• Status Verified: 2019-09
• Results First Submitted QC: 2019-09-25
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-09-25
• Results First Posted: 2019-10-18
• Last Update Posted: 2019-10-18

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 83

Inclusion Criteria

• Healthy subjects

Exclusion Criteria

• Subjects reported having any neurological problems, psychiatric illness or drug or alcohol abuse and none were currently taking any form of medication and had not drunk any caffeine-containing beverages on the day of the experiment.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
placebo	placebo	intranasal administration of the same ingredient except oxytocin
oxytocin	oxytocin	intranasal administration of oxytocin

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Heartbeat Detection (Interoception) Accuracy	45 minutes after oxytocin/placebo treatment	heartbeat detection (interoception) accuracy is calculated by the following equation: 1/N ∑ (1 - (\|recorded heartbeats - counted heartbeats\|)/recorded heartbeats). N was the number of blocks for the heartbeat detection task.
Interoceptive Network Activity	45 minutes after oxytocin/placebo treatment	interoceptive network (including anterior insula and dorsal cingulate cortex) activity as measured by the functional MRI technique in the heartbeat detection task. In the heartbeat detection task participants were instructed to make a keypress each time they felt their heartbeat. The interoceptive network activity was indicated by the percentage of BOLD signal change. The value of the percentage of BOLD signal change indicates the level of a certain brain region activated (the involvement of a brain region in a specific cognitive process).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; 🇨🇳 Chengdu, Sichuan, China