Oxytocin administration leads to stronger empathic reponses and faster emotional processing.
ID
Bron
Aandoening
empathy and emotional processing
Ondersteuning
Onderzoeksproduct en/of interventie
Uitkomstmaten
Primaire uitkomstmaten
1. Electromyographic (EMG) responses to presented happy and angry faces;<br>
2. Attentional bias to happy and anxious faces over neutral faces;<br>
3. The amount of distraction by emotional pictures compared to neutral pictures during a working memory task.
Achtergrond van het onderzoek
Empathy is a human emotion related to understanding and feeling the emotions of others. Lately, there has been increasing interest in the neurobiological backgrounds of empathy. The hormone oxytocin (OT) seems to play an important role in empathy and in empathy related disorders. In this study we will investigate the effects of 24 IU intranasal oxytocin administration on implicit empathic behaviors in healthy male volunteers. We will measure automatic facial mimicry to, and attentional bias for emotional faces, and the strength of distraction by emotional information both after oxytocin and after a placebo spray in a double-blind crossover design. We expect OT to increase empathic responding.
Doel van het onderzoek
Oxytocin administration leads to stronger empathic reponses and faster emotional processing.
Onderzoeksopzet
Placebo controlled cross-over design with 1 week in between. Tasks will be performed within 90 minutes after nasal spray administration.
Onderzoeksproduct en/of interventie
A nasal oxytocin spray is administered once containing 24 IU oxytocin (6 puffs). This will be compared with a placebo nasal spray in a cross-over design. Thirty minutes after nasal spray administration computer tasks will be performed to measure the effects of the oxytocin spray versus placebo.
Publiek
Wetenschappelijk
Belangrijkste voorwaarden om deel te mogen nemen (Inclusiecriteria)
1. Male;
2. Age 18 - 35;
3. Healthy (see exclusion criteria).
Belangrijkste redenen om niet deel te kunnen nemen (Exclusiecriteria)
1. Major physical illness such as heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetis, epilepsy, liver disease, or any other serious medical condition;
2. Current or past (< 5 years) psychiatric disorders, as assessed by selfreport;
3. Medication use that can interfere with the study;
4. Use of more than 3 glasses of alcohol per day;
5. Use of more than 10 cigarettes per day;
6. Use of hard drugs;
7. Common use of soft drugs (cannabis) - at least once per week in the last 3 months.
Opzet
Deelname
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In overige registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| NTR-new | NL2715 |
| NTR-old | NTR2853 |
| CCMO | NL36378.058.11 |
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN wordt niet meer aangevraagd. |
| OMON | NL-OMON36038 |