The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of orally administered vasopressin (AVP) on bottom-up and top-down attentional control to socio-emotional stimuli by combining a validated saccade/antisaccade eye-tracking paradigm with a randomized between-subject placebo-controlled pharmacological trial design.
Animal models and initial findings in humans suggest a role of the AVP signaling system in socio-emotional processes. Initial studies have employed intranasal AVP during a socio-emotional eye tracking paradigm and reported effects on both, top-down as well as bottom-up control. Within this context the present study aims to validate the effects of orally administered AVP on top-down and bottom-up attentional control towards socio-affective stimuli. To this end, healthy individuals will undergo a double-blind, between-subjects, placebo-controlled pharmaco-eye-tracking experiment and receive a single oral dose of vasopressin (20 IU) or placebo before performing a saccade/anti-saccade task 45 minutes after administration. The task paradigm will encompass social (happy, angry, fearful, sad and neutral faces) and non-social (oval) stimuli to examine the social and emotion-specific effects of oral vasopressin.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
80
Administration of Vasopressin (20 IU) (oral spray)
Administration of Placebo (oral spray)
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
RECRUITINGSaccade/antisaccade latency difference between social and non-social stimuli after oral vasopressin administration
Comparison between social-specific saccade/antisaccade latencies (in milliseconds) between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 45 minutes - 75 minutes after treatment
Error rate of saccade/antisaccade for social versus non-social stimuli after oral vasopressin administration
Comparison between social-specific error rates of saccade/antisaccade between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 45 minutes - 75 minutes after treatment
Saccade/antisaccade latency for different facial emotions after oral vasopressin administration
Comparison between emotion-specific saccade/antisaccade latencies (in milliseconds) between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 45 minutes - 75 minutes after treatment
Error rate of saccade/antisaccade for different facial emotions after oral vasopressin administration
Comparison between emotion-specific saccade/antisaccade error rates between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 45 minutes - 75 minutes after treatment
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