Oxytocin's Effects on Emotional Processing and Its Acting Routes

What Was Tested

The trial (not phased) is built around Oxytocin.

The main goal of this study is to investigate the modulatory effects of intranasally administrated oxytocin on the processing of emotional stimuli and its acting routes.

It had three arms (groups): Placebo and oxytocin group (experimental), Vasoconstrictor and oxytocin group (experimental) and Vasoconstrictor and placebo group (placebo comparator).

Subjects receive placebo of vasoconstrictor and oxytocin treatment.

Subjects receive vasoconstrictor and oxytocin treatment.

Subjects receive vasoconstrictor and placebo of oxytocin treatment.

The registry classes the interventions as drug.

More on the Plan

In recent years ample studies have reported that intranasally administered oxytocin (OT) can facilitate social motivation and cognition in healthy and clinical populations.

The relative functional contributions of these routes are not established and have received insufficient attention in the field.

In total 120 male participants are recruited for this double-blind, between-subject, placebo-controlled study.

Then, they complete a resting-state scan and two task-based scans lasting approximately 65 minutes in total.

Who Took Part

120 planned participants were the target.

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: Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders.

The full record lists 1 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: history of head injury; medical or psychiatric illness; subjects take a certain drug for a long period of time.

How the Study Was Run

It was run as a randomized, parallel-group and double-blind study.

Because people in this Oxytocin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the participants stayed in one arm throughout.

As a double-blind Oxytocin study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Those kept unaware of assignments: participant and investigator.

It started in 2026-01-24 with completion listed for 2026-04-15.

It ran at 1 site in China.

Its stated primary purpose is basic science.

What Was Measured

Primary outcome: Brain activity in response to emotional stimuli during task-based fMRI scanning (time frame: 1 hour). Changes in plasma oxytocin concentrations (time frame: After finishing questionnaires and 30-minute post-treatment).

It also tracked 4 secondary outcomes, for example The valence rating in response to different emotional stimuli, The intensity rating in response to different emotional stimuli, The arousal rating in response to different emotional stimuli and Resting-state fMRI.

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a not phased, randomized trial of Oxytocin in 120 people.

It is still recruiting; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

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