Deciphering the Role of Oxytocin in Motivation: an fMRI Study

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male
• 20-35 years of age at the time of screening
• Right-handedness
• Non-smoking
• No current or past history of neurological or psychiatric illness, including substance abuse or dependence
• No acute medical illness
• Written informed consent obtained from subject

Exclusion Criteria:

• Female
• Left-handedness or ambidextrous
• Presence of a condition or abnormality that in the opinion of the Investigator would compromise the safety of the patient or the quality of the data
• Known allergies to oxytocin or to preservatives in the nasal spray
• Participants who exhibit nasal obstruction or upper-respiratory tract infection at the time of scanning or report the use of intranasally administered medications for up to two weeks prior to screening
• Participants unable to tolerate the scanning procedures or would be unfit for scanning purposes (e.g. metal implants, claustrophobic, unable to lie still for the duration of the scan)
• Any current or past history of medical, neurological, or psychiatric illness or family history of psychiatric or neurologic disease in first-degree relatives
• Neurological illness, abnormal MRI (except if due to technical factors)
• Acute or uncorrected medical illnesses, including history of hepatic or renal dysfunction.
• Participants currently taking medications including any treatment, current or past with antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, isoniazid, glucocorticoids, psychostimulants and psychostimulant appetite suppressants, or centrally active antihypertensive drugs (e.g., clonidine, reserpine).
• Treatment within six months with any of the following: hormone use (testosterone, DHEA), antidepressants, opioid drugs.
• Treatment within one month with sedative hypnotic medications (benzodiazepines, barbiturates), or over the counter sleeping aids
• Current or past history of substance abuse or dependence
• Any reported lifetime use of any category of illicit drugs
• Positive urine drug screen