Oxytocin and Social Cognition

Phase 1

Completed

• Conditions: Healthy Male Volunteers
• Interventions: Drug: Oxytocin

• Registration Number: NCT01606462
• Lead Sponsor: University Hospital, Bonn

Brief Summary

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.

Detailed 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2011-06
• Study First Submitted: 2012-05-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-05-24
• Study First Posted: 2012-05-25
• Primary Completion: 2013-06
• Study Completion: 2013-06
• Status Verified: 2014-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2014-12-02
• Last Update Posted: 2014-12-03

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 153

Inclusion Criteria

• Healthy male volunteers

Exclusion Criteria

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

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Placebo	Oxytocin	sodium chloride solution, intranasal application, 3 puffs per nostril one application per volunteer
Oxytocin	Oxytocin	one application of 24 IU oxytocin per volunteer

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
neural correlates of emotion perception and subsequent memory effects of aversive and neutral stimuli	two years	MRI data are analyzed using SPM8 (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, London, UK). In the first level analysis the following conditions are modeled: 'neutral: subsequently remembered', 'neutral: subsequently forgotten', 'aversive: subsequently remembered', and 'aversive: subsequently forgotten'.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
the effect of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) polymorphism in terms of behavioral and neural responses to social stimuli	two years	behavioral social testing, fMRI analysis using SPM8, OXTR genotyping
The oxytocin effect on social behavior e.g. personal space is questioned	two years	behavioral testing e.g. personal space

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn; 🇩🇪 Bonn, Germany