Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
oxytocin, serotonin, social reward, decision making
Brief summary
The primary objective of this study is to identify any interaction between oxytocin and serotonin on neural and behavioral activity related to social reward and decision making by a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject, pharmacological fMRI design
Detailed description
Serotonin and oxytocin have been proved to play an important role in social reward processing and decision making in human. The aim of this study is to determine whether they interact in those essential human behaviors by a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject, pharmacological fMRI design, in which 4 groups of healthy males will be administered with a random combination of nasal oxytocin (24 international units, IU) or placebo and acute tryptophan depletion (ATD, 75.2g) or placebo (a tryptophan-balanced mixture, 78.2g). The social-reward related neural activity and behavior will be assessed by a series of social reward task in and out of fMRI scanner and the decision making will be assessed by reversal learning task, ultimatum game (UG) and loss aversion task. The interaction between serotonin and oxytocin on brain networks will also be tested by resting state.
Interventions
DRUGoxytocin nasal spray
intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU)
DRUGATD treatment
oral administration of ATD (75.2g) (Acute Tryptophan Depletion)
intranasal administration of placebo nasal spray
oral administration of a tryptophan-balanced mixture (78.2g)
Sponsors
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
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 * Right-handedness
Exclusion criteria
* History of head injury; * Medical or psychiatric illness. * High blood pressure, general cardio-vascular alterations * History of drug or alcohol abuse or addiction. * Allergy against medications or general strong allergies * Sleep disorders. * Visual or motor impairments
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in brain neural activity during the social reward processing as assessed via fMRI | approximately 45 minutes after intranasal administration of oxytocin, or placebo, approximately 5.5h after administration of ATD, or placebo | Whole brain and region of interest (ROI) regression analysis will be used to compare the neural activity of participants in response to social reward task in different treatment groups. |
| Changes in the resting state as assessed via fMRI | Time Frame: approximately 45 minutes after intranasal administration of oxytocin, or placebo, approximately 5.5h after administration of ATD, or placebo | Resting state activity in the social reward related and decision making brain networks will be compared between the treatment groups |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Associations with Personalities of subjects | before 30mins ATD or placebo administration | Personalities of subjects will be measured by a series of scales related to decision making and social reward, such as the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ), which measures participants' sensitivity to reward and punishment. SPSRQ is a self-reported instrument that includes 48 yes/no questions divided into two subscales: Sensitivity to Reward (SR, 24 items, ranging from 0 (insensitive) to 24 (sensitive) to reward) and Sensitivity to Punishment (SP, 24 items, ranging from 0 (insensitive) to 24 (sensitive) to punishment). Associations between individual differences in personalities of subjects and differences in behaviors will be measured. |
| Behavioral performance in decision making task | approximately 4h after administration of ATD, or placebo, before nasal spray | Behavioral performance in reversal learning task will be measured and compared between treatment groups. |
| Behavioral performance in social reward related task | approximately 105 minutes after intranasal administration of oxytocin, or placebo, approximately 6.5h after administration of ATD, or placebo | Behavioral performance will be measured and compared between treatment groups |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactYina Ma, Dr.
Outcome results
None listed