The Effects of Oxytocin on Affective Touch

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China50 enrolled

Overview

The main aim of the study is to investigate whether intranasal oxytocin (24IU) increases the affective processing of touch in general or whether it's effect vary according to the affective valence of the touch (positive, neutral, negative). Moreover, associations with trait autism will be explored.

A double-blind, within-subject, placebo controlled design will be employed in this study. In a randomized-order a total of 40 healthy male subjects will receive oxytocin- and placebo-nasalspray (interval between the administration \> 2 weeks). 45 minutes after treatment subjects will be administered the touch-stimulation to the dorsal forearm by a trained experimenter (lengths: 8cm, rate 8cm/s). After each block of stimulation, the subjects will be asked to rate their subjective experience of the touch.The neural basis of touch processing will be measured via simultaneously acquired fMRI. Levels of trait autism will be assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ) and related scales such as the Empathy Quotient (EQ), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), or the Sensory over Responsivity Scale (SOR) and Under Responsively Scale (URS).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

TRIPLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Healthy

Interventions

intranasal oxytocinDRUG

Each subject will be assigned to intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU).

intranasal placeboDRUG

An identical amount of intranasal administration of placebo will be assigned to each subject.

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 30 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy subjects without any past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders Exclusion Criteria: * History of brain injury Medical or mental illness

Locations (1)

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China(UESTC)

Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

brain function: neural activity during affective touch as assessed via BOLD fMRI

fMRI data will be analyzed using a within-subject General Linear Model approach - to determine the effects of oxytocin neural activity following oxytocin administration will be compared with neural activity following placebo administration.