← Human Trials & Peer-Reviewed Studies
'Oxytocin' for the outwardly oriented: Evidence for interactive effects in placebo responding
Plain-language guide to PMID 27020070 (2016): placebo-controlled randomized controlled trial study of Oxytocin.
Key Facts
- PMID
- 27020070
- Journal
- Journal of psychosomatic research
- Year
- 2016
- Study type
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Darragh M et al. (3 authors)
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.02.001
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
The paper reports a study of Oxytocin, published as a randomized controlled trial.
The current study directly tested this model by manipulating treatment descriptors to match the two purported facets of responsiveness.
Who Took Part
PubMed indexes the participants as adults, both men and women.
Physically healthy volunteers (N=77) experiencing life stress were randomised to either the: (1) wait-list control, (2) 'serotonin treatment' group; or (3) 'oxytocin treatment' group.
Both treatment groups received an 'antistress' intranasal spray (placebo).
How the Study Was Run
The design is described as randomized and placebo-controlled.
Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Oxytocin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.
A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Oxytocin group a baseline to be compared against.
The 'serotonin' and 'oxytocin' treatments were described to appeal to the two purported facets responsiveness set out in the TMPR, inward and outward orientation.
The BIS/BAS scale was used as proxies for inward (BIS) and outward (BAS) orientation.
It was hypothesised that high BAS types would be more responsive to the 'oxytocin' and high BIS types would be more responsive to the 'serotonin'.
What Was Measured
The subject headings attached to it are Extraversion, Psychological, Introversion, Psychological, Oxytocin, Placebo Effect, Serotonin and Stress, Psychological.
Author keywords: Placebo personality, Placebo responsiveness and Transactional Model of Placebo Responding.
What This Means in Plain Language
The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin.
Its findings take up roughly 2 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.
The publication is from 2016 (Journal of psychosomatic research), a journal based in England.
More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.
Our Notes on the Compound
Oxytocin: A peptide hormone with established obstetric medical uses and a less settled role in research on behavior, sexual function and appetite.
Related Pages
Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.