Intranasal Oxytocin and Learning in Autism

February 10, 2017 updated by: Robert Schultz

Promoting Social Perceptual Learning With Oxytocin in Autism

The main objective of this study is to determine the safety and therapeutic potential of intranasal oxytocin in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when paired with a computer game intervention that is designed to enhance face perception skills.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Recognizing faces is critical to social functioning, and can be improved for individuals with ASD by using intervention software in the form of appropriately designed computer games. The effects of this type of social intervention may be amplified with the concurrent use of oxytocin. Furthermore, these learning effects may impact social skills in general and translate to the level of the individual's everyday social behavior. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine the safety and therapeutic potential of intranasal oxytocin in children and adolescents with ASD when paired with a computer game intervention that is designed to enhance face perception skills.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
36

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

12 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants aged 12-17 years, Mental age ≥ 10
  2. Gender: males
  3. Diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder
  4. Consent: parent/guardian permission and child assent.
  5. Ability to complete tasks: adequate vision, motor control of a keyboard and mouse, and fluency in English (and English as a first language).
  6. Study participant needs to be clinically stable, in the opinion of the study clinicians. Stability will be assessed by the clinicians based on information from and conversations with the parent, if necessary. The parent needs to commit verbally to not making any changes to his or her child's current treatments for the duration of this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History of traumatic brain injury, epilepsy/seizure disorder (except febrile seizures), or other significant medical, genetic, or neurological abnormality affecting growth, development, or motor or higher cortical functioning. Sensory impairments (e.g., significant vision/hearing loss).
  2. Patients with one or more of the following: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), hemophilia (bleeding problems, recent nose and brain injuries), abnormal blood pressure (hypotension or hypertension), drug abuse, immunity disorder, or severe depression.
  3. Sensory impairments (e.g., significant vision/hearing loss).
  4. Gestational age below 35 weeks and/or perinatal injury.
  5. Profound mental retardation (e.g., Intelligence quotient (IQ) < 45) or sensory-motor difficulties that would preclude valid use of diagnostic instruments.
  6. Lack of impairment in face recognition as determined by average or above average performance on the Benton Face Recognition Task.
  7. Female participants.
  8. Patients who are sensitive to Syntocinon or any components of its formulation.
  9. Fever at the time of the baseline visit, defined as temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius or 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
  10. Judgment by the study physician or the PI that the patient is not suitable for the study due to unforeseeable safety issues.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Intranasal Oxytocin
  • Intranasal oxytocin (Trade name: Syntocinon)
  • Pharmacological class: The pharmacologic and clinical properties of Syntocinon are identical with the naturally occurring hormone oxytocin, which is released from the posterior pituitary.
  • Route of administration: Intranasal
  • Planned exposure: Each participant will receive one dose of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) per day for 5 days.
  • One dose of 24 IU equals 6 spray puffs (3 puffs in each nostril).
  • Oxytocin will be imported from Victoria Pharmacy Zurich- Switzerland.
Drug: Intranasal Oxytocin (Trade name: Syntocinon)
This is a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of intranasal oxytocin in children and adolescents with ASD. Subjects will be randomized to 24 IU intranasal oxytocin or placebo for a 5 day period with concomitant game play of computer games, which are designed to enhance face perception skills. Measures of social function and cognition will be administered before and after the intervention period.
Other Names:
  • Syntocinon
Placebo Comparator: Intranasal Placebo
  • Intranasal placebo
  • The placebo is identical to the oxytocin formulation with the exception of the active compound.
  • Route of administration: Intranasal
  • Planned exposure: Each participant will receive one dose of intranasal placebo per day for 5 days.
  • One dose equals 6 spray puffs (3 puffs in each nostril).
  • Placebo will be imported from Victoria Pharmacy Zurich- Switzerland.
Drug: Intranasal Oxytocin (Trade name: Syntocinon)
This is a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of intranasal oxytocin in children and adolescents with ASD. Subjects will be randomized to 24 IU intranasal oxytocin or placebo for a 5 day period with concomitant game play of computer games, which are designed to enhance face perception skills. Measures of social function and cognition will be administered before and after the intervention period.
Other Names:
  • Syntocinon

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change From Baseline to Post-testing (After Max. 12 Days) on the Part/Whole Identity Test (LFI Skills Battery)
Time Frame: Baseline and Post-testing (after max. 12 days)
This test measures the extent to which the participant employed a featural or holistic face recognition strategy. A sample face is presented, followed by a test face composed of either two whole faces or two face parts.
Baseline and Post-testing (after max. 12 days)
Change From Baseline to Post-testing (After Max. 12 Days) on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Child Version)
Time Frame: Baseline and Post-testing (after max. 12 days)
This is a test of emotion recognition. This test asks children to pick the best word out of four options to describe the mental state of a set of eyes. The test includes 28 photographs of eyes with both affective (e.g., upset) and cognitive (e.g., thoughtful) mental state words as choices.
Baseline and Post-testing (after max. 12 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes From Baseline to Post-testing (After Max. 12 Days) on the "Happy Faces" Measure of Social Attention
Time Frame: Baseline and Post-testing (after max. 12 days)
The "Happy Faces" task requires that participants look at a series of faces of men and women. Faces are presented on the screen one by one and children are asked just to look at the faces. Eye movements are measured with a Tobii x120 tabletop eye-tracker to evaluate participants' looking patterns towards the eyes versus the mouth region.
Baseline and Post-testing (after max. 12 days)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Robert Schultz

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Robert T. Schultz, PhD, Center for Autism Research, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 11, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 15, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 16, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 30, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 10, 2017

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 11-008241

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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