Learning Disabilities
Conditions
Keywords
Oxytocin, performance monitoring, reinforcement learning
Brief summary
The main aim of the study is to investigate whether intranasal oxytocin (24IU) influences reward sensitivity and performance monitoring during reinforcement learning.
Detailed description
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.
Interventions
DRUGintranasal oxytocin
24 IU of oxytocin nasal spray will be applied to each subject.
DRUGintranasal placebo
an identical amount of placebo nasal spray will be applied to each subject.
Sponsors
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Intervention model description
Randomized placebo-controlled double-blind within-subject design
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to 30 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
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
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neural index: Event-related potential: Feedback Related Negativity (FRN) during acquisition phase | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Feedback Related Negativity (FRN): a negative ERP component evoked by negative feedback relative to positive feedback during the acquisition phase will be compared between the oxytocin and placebo treatment conditions. |
| Neural index: Event-related potential: Error Related Negativity (ERN) during the test phase | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Error Related Negativity (ERN): a negative ERP component evoked by incorrect responses relative to correct responses during the test phase will be compared between the oxytocin and placebo treatment conditions. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral index: Response accuracy to superior stimuli during the acquisition phase | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Correct responses are defined as choices of the stimulus associated with higher probability positive feedback during the acquisition phase. Effects of treatment will be analyzed by comparing the performance between the two treatment conditions. |
| Behavioral index: Response accuracy to stimuli associated with highest probability positive feedback during the test phase | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Correct responses are defined as choices of the stimulus associated with highest probability positive feedback as learned in the acquisition phase. Effects of treatment will be analyzed by comparing the performance between the two treatment conditions. |
| Response accuracy avoiding stimuli associated with highest probability negative feedback in the test phase. | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Correct responses are defined as avoidance choices of stimuli associated with highest probability negative feedback as learned in the acquisition phase. Effects of treatment will be analyzed by comparing the performance between the two treatment conditions. |
| Response accuracy in response to superior stimuli associated with relative higher probability positive feedback in the test phase. | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Correct responses are defined as choices of the stimulus associated with higher probability positive feedback. Note that stimuli pairs in this measurement are all associated with positive feedback. Effects of treatment will be analyzed by comparing the performance between the two treatment conditions. |
| Response accuracy avoiding stimuli associated with higher probability negative feedback in the test phase. | 45-105 minutes after treatment administration | Correct responses are defined as avoidance choices of stimuli associated with higher probability negative feedback. Note that stimuli pairs in this measurement are all associated with negative feedback. Effects of treatment will be analyzed by comparing the performance between the two treatment conditions. |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactZhuang Qian, MD
Backup ContactBenjamin Becker, PhD
Outcome results
None listed