Clinical trial NCT03293511: Oxytocin Modulates Eye Gaze Behavior During Social Processing
Official title: Oxytocin Modulates Eye Gaze Behavior During Social Processing and Associations With Trait Autism
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: Oxytocin
Eye tracking
Autistic trait
Lead sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-09-26
Enrollment: 40
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 30
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Intervention model description: Randomized placebo-controlled double-blind within-subject design
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: The main aim of the study is to examine whether the effects of intranasal oxytocin on eye-gaze behavior towards social stimuli are modulated via individual differences in trait autism

Detailed description: In this double-blind, within subject, placebo controlled design a total of n = 40 healthy male subjects will receive either 24 IU of oxytocin or placebo (interval between administration \> two weeks). 45 minutes after treatment subjects will undergo a total of 7 eye-tracking paradigms examining eye-gaze behavior during social processing: (1) dynamic social-nonsocial visual preference task during which movies of dynamic geometric images (DGI) and dynamic social images (DSI) will be presented; (2) non-biological versus biological motion task; (3) social attention and motivation of sharing enjoyment; (4) preference for emotional faces versus schematic faces (emoticons); (5) shared social attention - shared gaze direction with an actor shifting his attention to different objects; (6) preferred visual scanning of face regions in emotional faces; and, (7) eye gaze in response to empathy eliciting visual stimuli. Autistic and associated traits will be assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ), Social Responsibilities Scale (SRS) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Within-subject differences in the effects of oxytocin on social eye gazing behaviour will be related to individual differences in autistic traits.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Healthy subjects without any past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of brain injury
* Visual impairments
* Use of medication
* Contraindications for oxytocin administration

Primary outcomes:
measure: Global eye gaze characteristic: differences between oxytocin and placebo treatment
timeFrame: 45-90 minutes after treatment administration
measure: Feature-specific eye gaze characteristics: differences between oxytocin and placebo treatment
timeFrame: 45-90 minutes after treatment administration
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Global eye gaze characteristic - associations with autism traits
timeFrame: 45-90 minutes after treatment administration
measure: Feature-specific eye gaze characteristics - associations with trait autism
timeFrame: 45-90 minutes after treatment administration
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Chengdu
country: China
facility: school of life science and technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
state: Sichuan
city: Chengdu
country: China
facility: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
state: Sichuan
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
name: Juan Kou, MSc
role: STUDY_CHAIR
References:
citation: Le J, Kou J, Zhao W, Fu M, Zhang Y, Becker B, Kendrick KM. Oxytocin Facilitation of Emotional Empathy Is Associated With Increased Eye Gaze Toward the Faces of Individuals in Emotional Contexts. Front Neurosci. 2020 Aug 11;14:803. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00803. eCollection 2020.