The Modulatory Effect of Oxytocin on Interoception

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China83 enrolled

Overview

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

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 Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Interoception

Interventions

oxytocinDRUG

self-administration of oxytocin (nasal spray)

placeboDRUG

self-administration of placebo (nasal spray)

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 35 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

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.

Locations (1)

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Heartbeat Detection (Interoception) Accuracy

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.

Time frame: 45 minutes after oxytocin/placebo treatment

Interoceptive Network Activity

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).

Time frame: 45 minutes after oxytocin/placebo treatment

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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