Deciphering the Role of Oxytocin in Motivation: an fMRI Study
Condition: Focus of Study: Neural Correlates of Oxytocin Administration
Intervention: Placebo; Oxytocin
Intervention description: Placebo intranasal administration, 3 puffs per nostril delivered approximately 30 minutes prior to scanning session.; Oxytocin intranasal administration, 24 IU, 3 puffs per nostril at 4 IU per puff delivered approximately 30 minutes prior to scanning session.
Intervention MeSH terms: Oxytocin
Phase: Phase 2
Study type: Interventional
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment: 20.0
Sex: Male
Minimum age: 20 Years
Maximum age: 35 Years
Healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Keywords: Oxytocin; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Social; Motivation

Summary:

      The proposed study will investigate the effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on
      neural activity associated with social and non-social motivation.
    

Eligibility criteria:

        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