Brain Dynamics of Oxytocin
Condition: Brain Dynamics in Healthy Adults
Intervention: Syntocinon Nasal Spray, 40IU; Syntocinon Placebo Formulation, 40IU
Intervention description: Subjects will be scanned twice. Prior to first brain scanning session, they will be randomly assigned to receive either Syntocinon or Placebo. Prior to second scanning session, they will receive what they have not received in the first session; i.e., same subjects will be receiving both Syntocinon and placebo on two different days.; Subjects will be scanned twice. Prior to first brain scanning session, they will be randomly assigned to receive either Syntocinon or Placebo. Prior to second scanning session, they will receive what they have not received in the first session; i.e., same subjects will be receiving both Syntocinon and placebo on two different days.
Intervention MeSH terms: Oxytocin
Phase: Phase 1
Study type: Interventional
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Enrollment: 51.0
Sex: All
Minimum age: 18 Years
Maximum age: 45 Years
Healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Keywords: oxytocin; trust; kinship; kin selection

Summary:

      Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that is well known for its role in social and affiliative behavior
      in humans. Oxytocin receptors are significantly lowered in autistic individuals and
      administration of oxytocin has shown benefits in enhancing social recognition and behavior in
      autistic children. However, more recent research has refined the behavioral effects of
      oxytocin, moving away from the notion that the neuropeptide blindly induces love and trust,
      towards the view that it actually increases social perception in assessing friend vs. foe:
      supporting cohesion with 'insiders' and distrust and aggression for 'outsiders.' Oxytocin is
      responsible for the selective aggression shown by lactating female mammals protecting their
      young, an effect demonstrated also in humans, and has been shown to strengthen feelings of
      ethnocentrism. However, no neuroimaging study to date has investigated this effect, with the
      consequence that its neurobiological basis is still unknown.

      The general aim of our study is to determine meso-circuit brain dynamics that underlie
      oxytocin's amplification of both trust and aggression; and specifically, using neuroimaging
      (fMRI, magnetoencephalography, and behavioral testing) whether oxytocin amplifies kinship
      bias by attenuating social reward learning.
    

Eligibility criteria:

        Inclusion Criteria:

          -  18-45 years of age

        Exclusion Criteria:

          -  any significant known medical condition, including mental disorders (confounds
             interpretation of brain activity)

          -  metal in the body or claustrophobia (contraindicated for fMRI)

          -  current use of any type of psychotropic medication (confounds interpretation of brain
             activity)

          -  body mass index of greater than 30 (to permit matched dosing across subjects)

          -  pregnancy (contraindicated for OT)

          -  breastfeeding (lactation endogenously triggers OT, which would not permit a placebo
             condition)

          -  smoking (affects use of nasal spray)

          -  use of drugs of abuse (confounds interpretation of brain activity)

          -  blood pressure above the normal range (140/90 mm Hg) or controlled with medication
             (may theoretically increase risk for OT side-effects)

          -  anosmia (affects use of nasal spray)