The Influence of Intranasal Oxytocin on Communication

April 15, 2019 updated by: Frances Chen, University of British Columbia
This study investigates whether oxytocin, a neuropeptide known for its role in social bonding, influences the outcomes of persuasive communications and several primary evolutionary goals. Participants will be given either oxytocin or placebo on their first visit and then they will receive the other spray during their second visit. At each visit, participants will engage in several psychosocial tasks to assess the role of oxytocin on receptiveness to opposing opinions, navigating the spatial environment, mating and parenting goals. Participants' attitudes and behaviours will be compared across the different conditions.

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

Oxytocin is a naturally occurring hormone, commonly known for its role in social approach, bonding, and trust. The present study is designed to investigate whether and how oxytocin may affect communication outcomes--specifically, by influencing trust of people presenting opinions that participants disagree with.

Healthy adult volunteers will intranasally administer 24 IU of oxytocin at one visit and placebo (saline) solution at another visit. Participants will then view photos of speakers presenting opinions on various socio-political issues which the participants disagree with. Participants will complete questions about their psychological reactions (e.g., anger, receptiveness) to the opinions presented. After reporting on their receptiveness to the opposing opinions, participants will begin the attentional tasks. In the attentional tasks, participants will be seated in front of a computer while an eyetracker records their eye movements and attentional gaze. First, participants will view two images presented simultaneously at either ends of the computer screen; each image pair will depict a a) baby and a food, b) baby and an attractive opposite sex target, or c) food and an attractive opposite sex target. Next, participants will view a series of images exclusively depicting one attractive opposite-sex target at a time; attentional bias away from faces and towards bodies (indicative of short-term mating interest; Bolmont, Cacioppo, & Cacioppo, 2014) will be tracked. After each photograph has been viewed for a fixed duration, the participant will answer a question assessing their likelihood of engaging in a one-night stand with the person pictured. After this second part of the task, we will gather saliva samples via passive drool collection. These samples will be later assayed for testosterone. Next participants will complete a measure of visual attention in which they will identify target stimuli (e.g. letters) on a computer screen via keyboard press.

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.
50

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.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Canada
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T1Z4
        • Kenny Psychology Building

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Healthy adult volunteers

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Currently have a diagnosed mental illness or are in psychiatric or psychotherapeutic treatment.
  • Are taking endocrinologically or psychoactive drugs (e.g. psychotropic drugs such as antipsychotics, antidepressants, sedatives, or sleeping pills)
  • Are taking anti-hypertensive drugs or drugs with QTc prolongation
  • Abuse drugs or alcohol
  • Suffer from any significant medical illness, such as heart disease/cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, endocrinological disorders, or neurological disorders.
  • Are not found to be physically healthy after a required prescreen questionnaire created by a doctor
  • Allergic to preservatives (e.g. paragons) found in nasal sprays
  • Pregnant/breastfeeding
  • Are currently involved in other clinical studies in which drugs are administered.

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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

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.
Experimental: Experimental
These participants will receive 24 international units (IU) of oxytocin via a nasal spray.
Drug: Oxytocin
Participants will be randomly assigned to intra-nasally administer either oxytocin or a placebo on their first visit and then they will receive the other spray during their second visit.
Other Names:
  • Syntocinon
Placebo Comparator: Control - Placebo
These participants will receive 24 international units (IU) of a saline solution via a nasal spray.
Drug: Placebo
Participants will be randomly assigned to intra-nasally administer either oxytocin or a placebo on their first visit and then they will receive the other spray during their second visit.

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
Communication Outcomes
Time Frame: 60-90 minutes
Participants will answer a series of questions regarding their reactions (e.g., anger, receptiveness) to the speakers and the opinions presented in the photos. It is expected that when participants receive oxytocin they will be more receptive to opposing opinions compared to when they receive the placebo. Participants may also have differing levels of receptiveness depending on whether the person expressing the opinion comes from their ingroup or outgroup.
60-90 minutes

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
Appetite
Time Frame: 60-90 minutes
We predict that when participants receive oxytocin they will spend less time looking at photos of food compared to when they receive the placebo.
60-90 minutes
Short vs. Long-Term mating orientation
Time Frame: 60-90 minutes
When participants receive oxytocin they will spend more time looking at human infants, less time looking at attractive opposite sex others (especially the bodies of those opposite sex others; additionally, they will exhibit lower testosterone reactivity to images of attractive opposite sex targets and report weaker desires to engage in short-term romantic relationships in general.
60-90 minutes
Peripheral narrowing of attention
Time Frame: 60-90 minutes
When participants receive oxytocin they will exhibit less peripheral narrowing on a computerized visual attention task compared to when they receive a placebo.
60-90 minutes

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.
University of British Columbia

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada

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: Frances Chen, PhD, University of British Columbia

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 (Actual)

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.
November 6, 2017

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.
December 12, 2018

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.
December 12, 2018

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).
March 31, 2015

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.
April 8, 2015

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.
April 14, 2015

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.
April 17, 2019

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.
April 15, 2019

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.
April 1, 2019

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.
  • H14-02448

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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.

Clinical Trials on Healthy

Clinical Trials on Oxytocin

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings