Temporal Dynamics and Pharmacokinetics of Intranasally Administered Oxytocin

The purpose of this study is to determine whether effects of intranasal oxytocin on amygdala response vary as a function of treatment dose and dose-test latency.

The objective of the present study is to determine whether intranasal oxytocin (IN-OXT) effects on blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) in the amygdala vary as a function of dose and latency. In particular, the investigators plan to compare effects of three different IN-OXT doses (12, 24, and 48 international units, IU) and three different dose-test latencies of IN-OXT administration (task starting at 15, 45 and 75min after administration) on established neural and behavioural correlates of emotion processing. As effects of OXT are particularly promising in autism, the investigators further want to investigate how autistic-like traits influence the OXT effects in exploratory post-hoc analyses

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy male volunteers
• Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or past psychiatric disease
• Current or past physical illness
• Psychoactive medication
• Tobacco smokers
• MRI contraindication (e.g. metal in body, claustrophobia)