Oxytocin and Human Defensive Responses in a Dynamic Situation

The Modulatory Affect of Oxytocin on Human Defensive Responses During Dynamic Predator-prey Interactions

The presnet study is to investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) treatment on modulating how human responsd to threat in a dynamic situation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Placebo; Drug: Oxytocin nasal spray

Detailed Description

Predator-prey interactions are inherently dynamic, requiring adaptive responses from prey to survive. Altough there is eviedence for oxytocin modulating anxiety and fear responses to threats, it remains unclear whether oxytocin (OT) would modulate how humans respond to threats along the predatory imminence continuum to facilitate escape during such interactions. Our study therefore focuses on this question by combining behavioralmeasures, skin conductance response, and fMRI in a dynamic predator-prey interaction paradigm. In this double-blind, between-subject, placebo-controlled study, participants are instructed to escape by evaluating the relative distance between themselves (i.e., the prey), the predator (slow, medium and high attacking speed) and the refuge. The MRI and Biopac electrophysiological acquisition systems are used in the study to collect subjects' brain activity and skin conductance response. Participants are also asked to rate their confidence and anxiety levels during performing the task. We will aslo examine the resulted patterns of flight initiation distance (FID) and distance to refuge (DTR) when the prey fled from different predators. Scores of questionnaires including Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-Ⅱ, Autism Spectrum Quotient, Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire, General Risk Propensity Scale are also collected before the experiment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Keith M Kendrick, Dr; Phone Number: 86-28-61830811; Email: k.kendrick.uestc@gmail.com

Study Locations

• China
  • Sichuan
    • Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 611731
      • Recruiting
      • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of head injury; pregnant, menstruating, taking oral contraceptives; medical or psychiatric illness,
• The presence of metal in the body or claustrophobia.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: oxytocin group; male and female subjects with oxytocin treatment	Drug: Oxytocin nasal spray; intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU)
Placebo Comparator: placebo group; male and female subjects with placebo treatment	Drug: Placebo; intranasal administration of placebo (24 IU)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Escape sucess rates when confronting different predators	Escape sucess rates in successfully entering the refuge when confronting the fast, medium and slow predators.	1 hour
Flight initiation distance	It is the prey-predator distance when a prey flees from a threat, a key index quantifying escape decisions.	1 hour
The distance to refuge	The distance to refuge when a prey flees from a threat.	1 hour
Brain activity patterns in response to threats along the predatory imminence continuum	Brain activity patterns in response to different predators along the predatory imminence continuum. We will examine these brain response patterns via both the conventional univariate analysis and the machine learning-based multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) approaches. Based on previous studies, the medium predator is a priori used as an anchor for fast and slow predators for a more sensitive measure of brain activity differences and contrasts with the medium predator would be reported in the suplemental files for completeness (if there were significant effects).	1 hour

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Confidence rating scores	Participants are asked to rate their confidence levels in successfully escaping from the predator before each block.	1 hour
Anxiety rating scores	Particioants are asked to rate how anxious they felt during the escape decision-making process.	1 hour
SCR during task	Skin Conductance Response (SCR) data are recorded in the task during scanning.	1 hour

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shuxia Yao, Dr, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 13, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 28, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 1, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 1, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): September 9, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 30, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: oxytocin; fMRI; escape decisions; dynamic predator-prey interaction; defensive responses
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Substandard Drugs; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Counterfeit Drugs
• Other Study ID Numbers: UESTC-neuSCAN-87

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

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