Differential Effects of Vasopressin and Oxytocin on Attention Control

What Was Tested

The trial (not phased) is built around Oxytocin and Vasopressin.

It had three arms (groups): Vasopressin (experimental), Oxytocin (experimental) and Placebo (placebo comparator).

Placebo intranasally.

The registry classes the interventions as drug.

More on the Plan

To this end data from subjects who underwent intranasal oxytocin administration (n = 33; NCT03486925) will be compared with data from subjects who underwent intranasal vasopressin or placebo administration (n = 39, or 45 respectively; NCT04493554).

To further control for non-treatment related factors the intranasal placebo groups from the previous studies (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04493554 and NCT03486925) will be compared with respect to primary and secondary outcome measures of the trial, in particular general and emotion-specific effects on attentional control.

Who Took Part

The registry lists 160 actual participants took part.

It was open to men only aged from 18 years up to 30 years.

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

Examples of who could join: Male, healthy participants.

The full record lists 2 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: previous or current medical, psychiatric, neurological disorder; regular medication; use of any psychoactive substances in the 24 hours before experiment.

How the Study Was Run

The set-up was randomized, parallel-group and triple-blind.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Oxytocin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The Oxytocin group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

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

Those kept unaware of assignments: participant, investigator and outcomes assessor.

It started in 2017-12-19 with completion listed for 2021-01-01.

It ran at 1 site in China.

Its stated primary purpose is basic science.

What Was Measured

The main thing measured (primary outcome): Differential effects of intranasal vasopressin and oxytocin administration on saccade/antisaccade latencies towards social (facial) versus non-social (shape) stimuli (time frame: Time Frame: 45 minutes - 100 minutes after treatment). Differential effects of intranasal vasopressin and oxytocin administration on error rates of saccade/antisaccade for social (facial) versus non-social (shape) stimuli (time frame: Time Frame: 45 minutes - 100 minutes after treatment).

It also tracked 2 secondary outcomes, for example Emotion-specific effects of vasopressin and oxytocin administration on saccade/antisaccade latencies towards the separate facial emotions and Emotion-specific effects of vasopressin and oxytocin administration on saccade/antisaccade error rates for the separate facial emotions.

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a not phased, randomized trial of Oxytocin and Vasopressin in 160 people.

The trial is marked completed; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

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