The Role of Oxytocin in the Perception of Faces

The Role of Oxytocin in the Perception of Infant Faces

Status

Completed

Phases

Early Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02443727

Enrollment

Registered

2015-05-14

Start date

2015-04-30

Completion date

2016-09-30

Last updated

2023-04-25

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

Conditions

Healthy

Brief summary

The main objective of this project is to study whether intranasal oxytocin (OT) affects how young adults perceive and attend to infant and adult faces. Based on existing research the investigators predict that oxytocin will facilitate the allocation of attentional resources on infant faces (compared to adult faces). The investigators also predict that oxytocin will enhance the activity of reward neural-networks associated with the perception of infant faces. The behavioral effects of OT (visual attention and face recognition) will be measured with eye-tracking while participants look at photographs of adult and infant faces. Neurological effects (the activity of emotion and reward networks) will be measured with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while participants look at infant faces on a computer screen.

Interventions

DRUGSyntocinon (synthetic oxytocin)

Dosage and details described in arm.

OTHERPlacebo

Dosage and details described in arm.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

MALE

Age

18 Years to 25 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Healthy Volunteers * Norma or corrected to norma vision * Participants are non parents * Able to provide written informed consent and to comply with all study procedures

Exclusion criteria

* Dementia or severe cognitive disorders * Endocrine disease or malignancy * Nasal obstruction or upper-respiratory tract infection * Current or previous psychiatric disorder * Current or previous use of psychoactive drugs * Alcoholism or substance abuse * History of seizures * Neurological Disorder * Previous head trauma * Hypertension * Cardiovascular Disease * Claustrophobia * ferrous metal in any part of the body

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Data	45 minutes after OT manipulation	The effect of OT will be assessed by determining changes in brain activation between treatment and placebo groups.
Eye movements data	45 minutes after OT manipulation	The effect of OT will be assessed by determining changes in eye movements between treatment and placebo groups.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Implicit Attitudes toward infants	45 minutes after OT manipulation	Implicit attitudes toward infants as measured by the Implicit Association Test
Theory of mind	45 minutes after OT manipulation	Theory of mind as measured by the Reading the mind in the eyes test

Outcome results

None listed

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