Neuropeptides and Social Behavior

May 27, 2015 updated by: Naomi Eisenberger, University of California, Los Angeles

It has long been established that interpersonal relationships can have a profound impact on health and well-being. Yet, we are still learning about the complex biological processes that contribute to positive social interactions and the ability to develop and maintain social relationships. Recent research has begun to focus on oxytocin and vasopressin, neuropeptides that are naturally produced in the hypothalamus, because administration of these neuropeptides has been associated with increased trust, generosity, empathy, cooperation, memory of social stimuli (e.g., faces), and brain activity in neural regions associated with social and emotional processes. To date, several aspects of oxytocin and vasopressin's effects on social behavior have been unexplored. As such, the overarching goal of this project is to examine the effects of intranasal oxytocin and vasopressin on social working memory, deception detection, sensitivity to interpersonal distance, empathy, and altruistic behavior. Understanding how oxytocin and vasopressin influence these aspects of social functioning will help to inform research that has begun to establish the potential for use of these neuropeptides in psychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia that are characterized by social deficits. For this study, we will recruit 150 healthy adults without a history of medical or psychiatric illness to come to the laboratory. In the first session, participants will complete several questionnaires. In the second session, participants will be randomly assigned to receive oxytocin, vasopressin, or placebo. The study nurses will measure temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure (female participants will also be asked to undergo a pregnancy test) before drug administration. Participants will then complete computer tasks. During the second session, we will also collect a saliva sample for genetic analysis and participants will be asked to complete several additional questionnaires. At the end of the experimental session, participants will be fully debriefed.

The investigators hypothesize that compared to placebo, oxytocin and/or vasopressin will improve social working memory and deception detection, and increase empathy and altruism. It is also hypothesized that main effects will not be found for oxytocin or vasopressin, but rather, analyses of relevant moderators will elucidate these findings.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

160

Phase

  • Early Phase 1

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
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095-1563
        • UCLA Department of Psychology

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 50 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-50 years of age
  • Healthy (see below)
  • Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Women who gave birth in the last six months, are currently pregnant, planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months, or currently breastfeeding women
  • Symptoms of runny nose due to allergies/cold or other reason
  • Current restricted fluid intake for any reason
  • Heart disease
  • Hypertension
  • History of myocardial infarction
  • History of cardiac arrhythmia
  • Kidney or liver disease
  • Vascular disease
  • Epilepsy
  • Migraine
  • Asthma
  • Nephritis
  • Diabetes and other endocrine diseases
  • Frequent or unexplained fainting
  • History of stroke
  • Aneurysm or brain hemorrhage
  • Active psychiatric diagnosis
  • Current psychopharmacologic treatment
  • Drug or alcohol abuse
  • Medical or neurological illness
  • Regular use of medication (e.g., vasoconstrictive medications)
  • Medication intake less than 2 weeks prior to study (5 weeks for fluoxetine) including daily non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
  • Smoking more than 15 cigarettes a day
  • Consumption of any alcoholic beverages in the past 24 hours will be excluded
  • Elevated blood pressure (>130/90)
  • Low blood pressure (<90/60)
  • Body temperature >100.1 F

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: FACTORIAL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Intranasal oxytocin
Participants will self-administer 24 IU oxytocin (Syntocinon, Novartis Pharmaceuticals). 5 puffs per nostril (1 puff = 2.4 IU oxytocin).
Drug: Intranasal oxytocin
Through the use of 1oz bottles attached with metered nasal pumps (1 puff = .1ml), participants will self-administer 24 IU oxytocin (Syntocinon, Novartis Pharmaceuticals). 5 puffs per nostril (1 puff = 2.4 IU oxytocin).
Other Names:
  • Syntocinon nasal spray
EXPERIMENTAL: Intranasal vasopressin
Participants will self-administer 20 IU vasopressin (American Regent Pharmaceuticals). 5 puffs per nostril (1 puff = 2 IU vasopressin).
Drug: Intranasal vasopressin
Through the use of 1oz bottles attached with metered nasal pumps (1 puff = .1ml), participants will self-administer 20 IU vasopressin (American Regent Pharmaceuticals). 5 puffs per nostril (1 puff = 2 IU vasopressin).
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Intranasal placebo
2 mls Glycerine and 3 mls purified water (methylparaben and propylparaben mixed according to purified water formula) for a total of 5 ml, which will be filtered with a 5mu filter (used previously; Bartz et al., 2010). Participants will self-administer 5 puffs per nostril.
Drug: Intranasal placebo
Through the use of 1oz bottles attached with metered nasal pumps (1 puff = .1ml), participants will self-administer 5 puffs per nostril. Placebo consists of: 2 mls Glycerine and 3 mls purified water (methylparaben and propylparaben mixed according to purified water formula) for a total of 5 ml, which will be filtered with a 5mu filter (used previously; Bartz et al., 2010).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Speed in social working memory task
Time Frame: Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Between group differences in the amount of time it takes to perform tasks involving social working memory
Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Accuracy of deception detection based on self-report
Time Frame: Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Between group differences in deception detection accuracy based on self-reported ratings of unfamiliar others
Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Self-reported perceptions of trust and threat
Time Frame: Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Between group differences in self-reported perceptions of trust and threat towards unfamiliar faces which appear to vary in interpersonal distance
Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Self-reported empathy and altruistic behavior
Time Frame: Between 40-90 minutes post administration
Between group differences in self-reported empathy (empathic concern and personal distress), and altruistic behavior.
Between 40-90 minutes post administration

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

October 1, 2012

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2013

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 31, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 4, 2012

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 7, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 28, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 27, 2015

Last Verified

May 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Behavioral Neuropeptides

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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