Oxytocin increases amygdala reactivity to threatening scenes in females

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is well known for its profound effects on social behavior, which appear to be mediated by an OT-dependent modulation of amygdala activity in the context of social stimuli.

To further explore whether OT generally enhances amygdala-dependent threat-processing in females, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a randomized within-subject crossover design to measure amygdala activity in response to threatening and non-threatening scenes in 14 females following intranasal administration of OT or placebo.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover 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.

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

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Oxytocin could be set against what happens without it.

Each person switched between Oxytocin and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

What Was Measured

To further explore whether OT generally enhances amygdala-dependent threat-processing in females, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a randomized within-subject crossover design to measure amygdala activity in response to threatening and non-threatening scenes in 14 females following intranasal administration of OT or placebo.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Amygdala, Emotions, Eye Movements, Facial Expression, Fear, Functional Neuroimaging and Image Processing, Computer-Assisted.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin.

The publication is from 2012 (Psychoneuroendocrinology), a journal based in England.

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