Amygdala response to negative images in postpartum vs nulliparous women and intranasal oxytocin

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Oxytocin, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The neuroendocrine state of new mothers may alter their neural processing of stressors in the environment through modulatory actions of oxytocin on the limbic system.

The researchers predicted that amygdala sensitivity to negatively arousing stimuli would be suppressed in postpartum compared to nulliparous women and that this suppression would be modulated by administration of oxytocin nasal spray.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 30 women were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are young adults and adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

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

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

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

What Was Measured

The researchers measured brain activation (fMRI) and subjective arousal in response to negatively arousing pictures in 29 postpartum and 30 nulliparous women who received either oxytocin nasal spray or placebo before scanning.

Pre- and post-exposure urinary cortisol levels were also measured.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Amygdala, Analysis of Variance, Cohort Studies, Hydrocortisone, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Oxygen.

Author keywords: amygdale, arousal, cortisol, oxytocin and postpartum.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin in 30 women.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2014 (Social cognitive and affective neuroscience), a journal based in England.

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