Oxytocin Effect on Attentional Bias Towards Emotional Expression Faces in Individuals With High and Low Autistic Traits: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Study

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Early Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02741063

Enrollment

120

Registered

2016-04-18

Start date

2016-05-31

Completion date

2019-09-30

Last updated

2018-10-29

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

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

oxytocin, attentional bias, Autism

Brief summary

to investigate whether oxytocin alter attentional bias towards emotional expression faces in individuals with high and low autistic traits, and the brain mechanism of this effect

Detailed description

In the present study, investigator plan to use a double-blind, between-subject placebo controlled design.Firstly, all healthy male subjects' autistic trait levels will be assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ) and only subjects with higher or lower ASQ score will be recruited in the next experiment and divided into high and low subgroup. Then, subjects are randomly assigned to receive either intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo. 45 min later, subject need to complete an attentional bias task named rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task in fMRI scanner.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALscreen low autistic subjects

screen subjects with low ASQ score

BEHAVIORALscreen high autistic subjects

screen subjects with high ASQ score

DRUGoxytocin

intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU)

DRUGplacebo

intranasal administration of placebo (24 IU)

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

MALE

Age

18 Years to 30 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders

Exclusion criteria

* history of head injury; * claustrophobia; * medical or psychiatric illness.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
attentional bias toward emotional expression faces	1 hour	attentional bias was measured by the accuracy of each emotional faces in the RSVP task

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
brain activity during RSVP task	1 hour	brain activity was measured by the fMRI scanner

Countries

China

Contacts

Primary ContactKeith Kendrick, Dr.

k.kendrick.uestc@gmail.com

Outcome results

None listed

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