Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
The purpose of this study is to determine whether oxytocin affects the modulation of startle reactivity by aversive social stimuli and to investigate the oxytocin effect on moral judgements. Furthermore the investigators explore the effects of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) polymorphisms on behavioral responses to social stimuli.
The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) can enhance the impact of positive social cues but may reduce that of negative ones, although it is unclear whether the latter causes blunted emotional responses. After OXT or placebo application participants are exposed to acoustic startle probes presented alone and during viewing of 60 color pictures mostly selected from the 'International Affective Picture System'. The paradigm featured 20 negative (mostly threatening), 20 neutral, and 20 positive pictures, presented for 5 s each. In the other part of the experiment, after intranasal OXT or placebo application participants respond to 60 moral dilemmas.
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxytocin | Experimental | 24 IU Oxytocin, intranasal application 45 min prior to the experiment |
|
| Placebo | Placebo Comparator | intranasal application, sodium chloride solution, 3 puffs per nostril |
|
| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxytocin | Drug | Oxytocin: 24 IU; 3 puffs per nostril, each with 4 IU OXT |
|
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| baseline startle magnitude and affective modulation of the startle magnitude after oxytocin and placebo administration | The experimental tasks started 45 min after intranasal OXT/PLC administration. The STARTLE-paradigm features 20 negative (mostly threatening), 20 neutral, and 20 positive pictures, presented for 5 s each. The startle stimulus consists of a single 50-ms burst of white noise (100 dB) with nearly instantaneous rise and was delivered binaurally via headphones during 60% of the pictures (i.e. 12 from each category) at 2 - 4 s after picture onset. We examined the baseline startle magnitude as well as the affective modulation of the startle magnitude. | 24 Months |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| moral decision making after oxytocin and placebo administration | The experimental tasks started 45 min after OXT/PLC administration. The moral dilemmas performed in the present study were identical to those published previously by Greene et al.(2001). | 24 months |
| oxytocin receptor (OXTR) polymorphism and correlation with social behavior |
Not provided
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Rene Hurlemann, MSc MD PhD | Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Germany | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn | Bonn | 53105 | Germany |
Not provided
| Label | URL |
|---|---|
| Click here for more information about the NEMO research group | View source |
Not provided
Not provided
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D010121 | Oxytocin |
| C014635 | lactitol |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D010909 | Pituitary Hormones, Posterior |
| D010907 | Pituitary Hormones |
| D036361 | Peptide Hormones |
| D006728 | Hormones |
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
Not provided
OXTR genotyping, social behavior testing |
| 24 months |
| D006730 |
| Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists |
| D010455 | Peptides |
| D000602 | Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins |