The Effects of Vasopressin on Attention Control

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The main aim of the present study is to investigate whether intranasal vasopressin (20IU) could influence attention control in a social-emotional saccade/antisaccade eye-tracking paradigm.

Detailed Description
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A number of previous studies have reported vasopressin's effect on human social behavior and social cognition, although it remains unclear whether vasopressin could modulate attention allocation including stimulus-driven bottom-up control and goal-directed top-down control. In the current randomized, between-subject, placebo controlled study, 89 healthy male subjects will be recruited and receive either vasopressin (20 IU) or placebo control administered intranasally. 45 minutes after treatment subjects will be required to complete a social-emotional saccade /antisaccade eye-tracking paradigm. The paradigm uses social (happy, sad, angry, fear, and neutral faces) as well as non-social (oval shapes) stimuli to explore social- and emotion-specific effects of vasopressin.

Official Title
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The Effects of Vasopressin on Attention Control: An Eye-tracking Study

Conditions
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Healthy

Intervention / Treatment
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* Drug: Vasopressin
* Drug: Placebo


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Healthy participants Non smokers Exclusion Criteria: Previous or current medical, psychiatric, neurological disorder Regular medication Use of any psychoactive substances in the 24 hours before experiment Contra-indications for vasopressin Contra-indications for eye-tracking data acquisition

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 30 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Male

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Between-subject randomized placebo-controlled double-blind pharmacological eye-tracking design
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Vasopressin<br>Vasopressin (20 IU) intranasally | Drug: Vasopressin<br>* Administration of vasopressin (20 IU) intranasally<br>|
| Placebo Comparator: Placebo<br>Placebo intranasally | Drug: Placebo<br>* Administration of placebo intranasally<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Effect of vasopressin administration on saccade/antisaccade latencies towards social (facial) versus non-social (shape) stimuli | Comparison between social-specific saccade/antisaccade latencies (in milliseconds) between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions | 45 minutes - 100 minutes after treatment | 
| Effect of vasopressin administration on error rates of saccade/antisaccade for social (facial) versus non-social (shape) stimuli | Comparison between social-specific error rates of saccade/antisaccade between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions | 45 minutes - 100 minutes after treatment | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Emotion-specific effects of vasopressin administration on saccade/antisaccade latencies towards the separate facial emotions | Comparison between emotion-specific saccade/antisaccade latencies (in milliseconds) between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions | 45 minutes - 100 minutes after treatment | 
| Emotion-specific effects of vasopressin administration on saccade/antisaccade error rates for the separate facial emotions | Comparison between emotion-specific saccade/antisaccade error rates between the vasopressin and placebo treatment conditions | 45 minutes - 100 minutes after treatment |