Conditions: PTSD
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Enrollment: 38
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of the study is to use fMRI to investigate amygdala response to fearful faces in men and women with and without PTSD who have experienced childhood trauma. The study will also compare the effects of oxytocin and placebo on amygdala response, and explore the interaction of oxytocin plasma levels and amygdala response in men and women with and without PTSD who have experienced childhood trauma.

Hypothesis 1: Amygdala responding will be greater in subjects with PTSD as compared to resilient subjects, and no sex differences in the magnitude of the response will be found.

Hypothesis 2A: In response to OT, women will exhibit a greater reduction in amygdala responding than men.

Hypothesis 2B: In response to OT, women with PTSD will exhibit a greater reduction in amygdala responding compared to women without PTSD.

Hypothesis 3A: Women with PTSD will have lower levels of plasma OT as compared to men with PTSD, and women and men without PTSD.

Hypothesis 3B: Plasma OT levels will be inversely correlated with amygdala responding to fearful faces in women but not in men.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: Participants PTSD will self-administer matching placebo (containing all ingredients except OT) at 10:30 a.m. on Day 1 of study procedures, approximately 45-minutes prior the scanning sessions. This dose and timing of administration were selected based on similar fMRI studies (Domes, et al., 2007; Domes, et al., 2010; Kirsch, et al., 2005). arm 2: Participants with PTSD will self-administer 24 IUs of OT nasal spray at 10:30 a.m. on Day 1 of study procedures, approximately 45-minutes prior the scanning sessions. This dose and timing of administration were selected based on similar fMRI studies (Domes, et al., 2007; Domes, et al., 2010; Kirsch, et al., 2005). arm 3: Resilient controls will self-administer matching placebo spray at 10:30 a.m. on Day 1 of study procedures, approximately 45-minutes prior the scanning sessions. This dose and timing of administration were selected based on similar fMRI studies (Domes, et al., 2007; Domes, et al., 2010; Kirsch, et al., 2005). arm 4: Resilient controls will self-administer 24 IUs of OT nasal spray at 10:30 a.m.on Day 1 of study procedures, approximately 45-minutes prior the scanning sessions. This dose and timing of administration were selected based on similar fMRI studies (Domes, et al., 2007; Domes, et al., 2010; Kirsch, et al., 2005).

Interventions: intervention 1: Oxytocin intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: None intervention 2: None

Protocol document: