The Influence of Oxytocin on the Processing of Social Contact

September 5, 2013 updated by: Rene Hurlemann, University Hospital, Bonn
Social touch can convey the most potent and salient of socio-emotional signals. While the hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) has been identified as a key neurochemical mediator of grooming in some other social species, its modulatory influence on human interpersonal touch is unknown. The investigators expect that OXT augments the hedonic value of touch and that this behavioral effect is paralleled at the neural level by an increased response in brain areas mediating rewarding aspects of social touch.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

Phase

  • 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

  • Germany
    • North Rhine-Westphalia
      • Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 53105
        • Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn

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 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Healthy male volunteers

Exclusion Criteria:

Current or past psychiatric disease Current or past physical illness Psychoactive medication Tobacco smokers

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Oxytocin
24 IU Oxytocin, intranasal application 30 min prior to the experiment
Drug: Oxytocin
24 IU Oxytocin, intranasal application 45 min prior to the experiment
Other Names:
  • Syntocinon
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
intranasal application, sodium chloride solution, 3 puffs per nostril
Drug: Placebo
intranasal application, sodium chloride solution, 3 puffs per nostril

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pleasantness ratings of social touch
Time Frame: 30 minutes after the nasal spray administration
After each trial, subjects are asked to use a visual analog scale to rate the pleasantness of the administered touch.
30 minutes after the nasal spray administration
Blood-oxygen-level dependent signal in response to social touch
Time Frame: 30 minutes after the nasal spray administration
By using functional magnetic resonance imaging we want to examine oxytocin's effects on the neural correlates (BOLD signal) of social touch.
30 minutes after the nasal spray administration

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Questionnaire measurement of mood (PANAS) and anxiety (STAI).
Time Frame: 15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment
15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Saliva oxytocin concentrations
Time Frame: 15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment
15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University Hospital, Bonn

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.

Helpful Links

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

March 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 27, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 5, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

September 11, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 11, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 5, 2013

Last Verified

September 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • OXT_PS_2013
  • PS_2013 (Other Grant/Funding Number: University of Bonn)

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.

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