The Effect of Oxytocin on Face Perception

What Was Tested

The trial (early phase 1) is built around Oxytocin.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether oxytocin affect face perception.

It had two arms (groups): Control group (other) and congenital prosopagnosia (experimental).

Control group will be administered oxytocin and placebo, in a double-blind randomized order.

Congenital prosopagnosics will be administered oxytocin and placebo in a double-blind randomized order.

The registry classes the interventions as drug.

Who Took Part

Enrollment: 100 planned participants were the target.

It was open to people of any sex aged from 18 years up to 80 years.

Healthy volunteers could join, not only people with the condition.

Examples of who could join: Normal or corrected to normal vision.

The full record lists 1 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: pregnancy (according to a pregnancy test taken by subjects prior to participation); a history of asthma or nasal polyps; cardiac disorders.

How the Study Was Run

The set-up was randomized, crossover and double-blind.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Oxytocin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Oxytocin and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Oxytocin.

Those kept unaware of assignments: participant and investigator.

It started in 2013-11 with completion listed for 2016-12.

It ran at 1 site in Israel.

Its stated primary purpose is basic science.

What Was Measured

Primary outcome: Memory performance (time frame: Day 2 (24 hours after encoding)).

It also tracked 1 secondary outcome, for example Mood measurement.

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a early phase 1, randomized trial of Oxytocin in 100 people.

Its status is suspended; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.