Age-dependent effects of oxytocin in brain regions enriched with oxytocin receptors

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Oxytocin.

Aligned with this notion, the current study adopted a novel approach to test 1) whether the connections between oxytocin receptor-enriched regions (i.e., the thalamus, pallidum, caudate nucleus, putamen, and olfactory bulbs) and other regions in the brain were responsive to intranasal oxytocin administration, and 2) whether oxytocin-induced effects varied as a function of age.

Why It Was Studied

Although intranasal oxytocin administration to tap into central functions is the most commonly used non-invasive means for exploring oxytocin's role in human cognition and behavior, the way by which intranasal oxytocin acts on the brain is not yet fully understood.

In particular, intranasal oxytocin may act directly on (subcortical) regions rich in oxytocin receptors via binding to these receptors while only indirectly affecting other (cortical) regions via their neural connections to oxytocin receptor-enriched regions.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

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.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Oxytocin, Brain, Aging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Receptors, Oxytocin and Neural Pathways.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Age, Oxytocin receptor, Quantitative data-driven analysis framework and Resting-state functional connectivity.

What This Means in Plain Language

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

The publication is from 2024 (Psychoneuroendocrinology), a journal based in England.

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