Effects of Oxytocin on Reinforcement Learning

The Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Reward Sensitivity and Performance Monitoring During Reinforcement Learning: an ERP Study

The main aim of the study is to investigate whether intranasal oxytocin (24IU) influences reward sensitivity and performance monitoring during reinforcement learning.

A double-blind, within-subject, placebo-controlled pharmacological EEG design will be employed. A total of 35 healthy male subjects will be recruited which will receive either intranasal placebo or oxytocin (24IU) on two separate study days (order counter-balanced, washout period at least 2 weeks). 45 minutes after treatment subjects will undergo a probabilistic feedback reinforcement learning paradigm with concurrent EEG acquisition. During the paradigm subjects will learn the reward probabilities of two different visual stimuli from probabilistic feedback provided by social stimuli (positive, negative emoticon). The paradigm includes an initial acquisition phase and a subsequent test phase.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 18-30
• Male sex
• Right handedness

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of brain injury
• Current or history of psychiatric, neurological or internist disorder
• Current or regular use of medication, psychotropic substances, including nicotine
• Contraindications for Oxytocin