Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Oxytoxin, Fear, fMRI, Functional Connectivity
Brief summary
The main aim of the pharmacological resting-state fMRI study is to investigate the modulatory effects of intranasal Oxytocin (24IU) on task and intrinsic functional connectivity before and after prolonged exposure to naturalistic fear induction via a movie.
Detailed description
In a double-blind placebo-controlled between-subject experimental design, 60 adult male subjects will be randomly allocated to either receive intranasal Oxytocin (24IU, n= 30) or intranasal placebo (nasal spray administration without oxytocin, n = 30). Following treatment administration subjects will undergo a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessment (8min) and next watch a long fear-inducing (horror) movie (10min) followed by a resting state fMRI assessment (8min). Effects of treatment on subjective experience will be assessed using 1-9 Likert scales assessing subjective fear, emotional arousal and escape. Ratings will be acquired before the start of the experiment, after the movie and at the end of the experiment. Participants will undergo screening for psychopathological and emotional states before treatment. Together with a randomized assignment to the treatment groups, this will allow controlling for confounding between-group differences.
Interventions
Administration of intranasal Oxytocin(24IU)
DRUGintranasal Placebo
Administration of intranasal Placebo
Sponsors
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Intervention model description
Randomized placebo-controlled double-blind between-subject design
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 * Normal or corrected-normal version
Exclusion criteria
* History of head injury * Medical or psychiatric illness * Hypertension * General cardio-vascular alteration or diseases * Allergy against medications * Visual or motor impairments * Claustrophobia * Drug addiction * Nicotine dependence * FMRI contradictions
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity during the resting state between brain systems involved in emotional processing. | Change between the time windows 72-80 minutes (before emotion induction) and 90-98 minutes (after emotion induction) following treatment | 1.During the 8min resting state before and after the movie clips the intrinsic connectivity of the brain will be assessed. The intrinsic connectivity will be computed as temporal correlation between spatially remote neurophysiological events, expressed as deviation from statistical independence across these events in distributed neuronal groups and areas. Effects of Oxytocin on the intrinsic architecture of the brain will be examined by comparing the Oxytocin- and Placebo- treated groups. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Functional and dynamic connectivity during the movie clip will be examined during the fear-induction period (10min movie clip). | 80 minutes to 90 minutes after treatment | Effects of treatment on dynamic functional connectivity during the fear clip watching phase will be examined by comparing dynamic functional connectivity indices between the Oxytoxin- and Placebo-treated group. |
Countries
China
Outcome results
None listed