The Influence of Oxytocin on the Processing of Social Contact

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01939639

Enrollment

Registered

2013-09-11

Start date

2013-03-31

Completion date

2013-08-31

Last updated

2013-09-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy Male Volunteers

Keywords

Oxytocin, fMRI

Brief 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.

Interventions

DRUGPlacebo

intranasal application, sodium chloride solution, 3 puffs per nostril

DRUGOxytocin

24 IU Oxytocin, intranasal application 45 min prior to the experiment

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

MALE

Age

18 Years to 60 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

Healthy male volunteers

Exclusion criteria

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

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Pleasantness ratings of social touch	30 minutes after the nasal spray administration	After each trial, subjects are asked to use a visual analog scale to rate the pleasantness of the administered touch.
Blood-oxygen-level dependent signal in response to social touch	30 minutes after the nasal spray administration	By using functional magnetic resonance imaging we want to examine oxytocin's effects on the neural correlates (BOLD signal) of social touch.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Questionnaire measurement of mood (PANAS) and anxiety (STAI).	15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment

Other

Measure	Time frame
Saliva oxytocin concentrations	15 minutes before the nasal spray administration and (on average) 10 minutes after the fMRI experiment

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026