The Influence of Oxytocin on the Processing of Social Contact

Healthy Male Volunteers Clinical Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01939639
• Other study ID #: OXT_PS_2013
• Secondary ID: PS_2013
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• First received: August 27, 2013
• Last updated: September 5, 2013
• Start date: March 2013
• Est. completion date: August 2013

Study information

• Verified date: September 2013
• Source: University Hospital, Bonn
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Germany: Ethics Commission
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Social touch can convey the most potent and salient of socio-emotional signals. While the hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) has been identified as a key neurochemical mediator of grooming in some other social species, its modulatory influence on human interpersonal touch is unknown. The investigators expect that OXT augments the hedonic value of touch and that this behavioral effect is paralleled at the neural level by an increased response in brain areas mediating rewarding aspects of social touch.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 40
• Est. completion date: August 2013
• Est. primary completion date: June 2013
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Male
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Healthy male volunteers

Exclusion Criteria:

Current or past psychiatric disease Current or past physical illness Psychoactive medication Tobacco smokers

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator), Primary Purpose: Basic Science

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy Male Volunteers

Intervention

Drug:
• Placebo
intranasal application, sodium chloride solution, 3 puffs per nostril
• Oxytocin
24 IU Oxytocin, intranasal application 45 min prior to the experiment

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Germany	Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn	Bonn	North Rhine-Westphalia

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University Hospital, Bonn

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Saliva oxytocin concentrations		15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment	No
Primary	Pleasantness ratings of social touch	After each trial, subjects are asked to use a visual analog scale to rate the pleasantness of the administered touch.	30 minutes after the nasal spray administration	No
Primary	Blood-oxygen-level dependent signal in response to social touch	By using functional magnetic resonance imaging we want to examine oxytocin's effects on the neural correlates (BOLD signal) of social touch.	30 minutes after the nasal spray administration	No
Secondary	Questionnaire measurement of mood (PANAS) and anxiety (STAI).		15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment	No

External Links

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